Karma Koala Podcast

KARMA KOALA PODCAST
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The Karma Koala Podcast by Sean Hocking the founder and editor of Cannabis Law ReportThis podcast is one on one conversations , long-form and short-form covering all aspects of cannabis law, biz, compliance, issues, updates etc from around the world.Listen in - learn something new I speak with lawyers, politicians, CEO's, founders, regulators about the new global push for regulating cannabis use.

  1. 2d ago

    Karma Koala Podcast 333: Dr. Utathya Chattopadhyaya assistant professor of history at Uni of California, Santa Barbara, author of Ganja Matters: Empire & the Pursuits of Cannabis in British India.

    New titles about cannabis keep on coming and when i found out about.. Ganja Matters: Empire & the Pursuits of Cannabis in British India.  I knew i had to speak to Dr. Utathya Chattopadhyaya.Learn Morehttps://cannabislaw.report/karma-koala-podcast-333-dr-utathya-chattopadhyaya-assistant-professor-of-history-at-uni-of-california-santa-barbara-author-of-ganja-matters-empire-the-pursuits-of-cannabis-in-british-india/

  2. Aug 27

    Karma Koala Podcast 332: The DeAngelo Chronicles Part 7: The West is The Best

    To paraphrase the Lizard King The west is the bestThe west is the bestGet here and we’ll do the restThe blue bus is calling usThe blue bus is calling usDriver, where you taking us? It’s time for Steve to move from DC and embrace California’s somewhat more accepting. (if slow) understanding of the future of medical cannabis. Although, as always, the politicians were a little behind the 8 ball. “This is not medicine, this is a Cheech and Chong show.” General Barry McCaffrey (US Drug Czar) We discuss 1996 California Proposition 215 The birth of Harborside Harborside Health Center was founded in Oakland, California, in 2006 by cannabis activists and industry veterans Steve DeAngelo and Dress Wedding (along with Steve’s brother, Andrew DeAngelo) Founding and Early Innovation First Licenses: Harborside was granted one of the first six medical cannabis licenses issued in the United States.  Industry Standards: It became the first dispensary in the country to require rigorous product testing for purity, potency, and pesticide-free quality, setting a gold standard for the modern legal market.  Holistic Model: Operating originally as a non-profit, Harborside focused heavily on patient care, offering free holistic health services, counseling, and education for seniors, veterans, and families. At its peak, it was widely considered the largest and most influential cannabis dispensary in the world.  Media Spotlight: The dispensary gained global fame as the central subject of the Discovery Channel reality television series Weed Wars in 2011.  Steve also talks about run ins with the IRS as various agencies all pounded on the door for their pound of flesh   Also see  https://www.clm.com/code-%C2%A7280e-planning-observations-harborside-case-hinges-on-definition-of-consists-of/ https://www.taxnotes.com/research/federal/court-documents/court-opinions-and-orders/ninth-circuit-affirms-tax-court-on-dispensarys-inventory-costs/52h0c https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R46709https://cannabislaw.report/karma-koala-podcast-332-the-deangelo-chronicles-part-7-the-west-is-the-best/

  3. Aug 24

    Karma Koala Podcast 331: Same Francis, the Caribbean - new report, "From the Code Noir to GACP/GMP: Cannabis and the New Colonial Economy"

    I spoke to Same last year about the policy work he is doing with multiple jurisdictions in the Caribbean. He has now published the report "From the Code Noir to GACP/GMP: Cannabis and the New Colonial Economy" The Caribbean is dismantling prohibition. The harder task is ensuring that legal cannabis does not reproduce an older economic order in which the South grows the commodity while standards, capital, certification and value are controlled elsewhere. In May 2026, France's National Assembly adopted at first reading a bill providing for the repeal of the Code Noir, the 1685 edict that helped organise slavery in France's American colonies. The measure is not yet final and remains in the parliamentary process. One detail of the debate, however, is revealing. The text uses the language of abrogation. An amendment proposed replacing that word with annulment. The distinction is not merely semantic. Abrogation removes a rule from the legal order. Nullity goes further by challenging its legal validity at the root. France used that stronger logic after the fall of the Vichy regime, including for measures that established or applied discrimination based on Jewish status. The amendment on the Code Noir was withdrawn, and the text retained the language of abrogation. [1][2][3] There is no moral or legal equivalence between the Code Noir and modern cannabis standards such as Good Agricultural and Collection Practice or Good Manufacturing Practice. GACP and GMP are quality systems. The Code Noir belonged to a legal order of slavery. Nor is there a direct legal genealogy connecting them. The comparison is narrower and more useful. A society can remove a rule without necessarily dismantling the economic structures and relationships of power that developed around it. That question matters for cannabis reform. Caribbean governments are gradually removing prohibition, creating regulators and writing the rules of legal markets. But ending criminalisation does not decide who will own the industry that replaces it, who will define quality, who will finance compliance or where the highest-value parts of the value chain will sit. The plant can become legal while its value chain remains externally controlled. That is the new colonial question.   We speak about the work he is doing with regulators throughout the region as well as the report and his websites including the International Society of Cannabis Same is a prominent commentator and strategist who tracks the development of legal cannabis frameworks, market infrastructure, and regulatory rollouts across the region https://cannabislaw.report/karma-koala-podcast-331-same-francis-the-caribbean-new-report-from-the-code-noir-to-gacp-gmp-cannabis-and-the-new-colonial-economy/

  4. Aug 19

    Karma Koala Podcast 330: Tia Ramfate – New South African grassroots cannabis organization launches, the TRCA (Township and Rural Cannabis Association)

    The koalas speak with Tia about the new organisation she is setting up with Linda Siboto (Cheeba) to take cannabis to the regions.   Cannabiz Africa have the background story   Cannabist ‘activist-entrepreneurs’ Tia Ramfate and Linda Siboto are behind the formation of a new grassroots cannabis organization, the TRCA. Their idea is to translate indigenous knowledge skills into entrepreneurship opportunities for rural and township cannabis businesses. John Makoni, Africa Editor Former Soweto Cannabis Association chair and AfuRaka Institute founder Tia Ramfate  and new U Grow business development director and Cheeba Africa co-founder, Linda Siboto, have set up the Township and Rural Cannabis Association (TRCA) with the aim of integrating indigenous knowledge skills into grassroots cannabis economies.Learn morehttps://cannabislaw.report/karma-koala-podcast-330-tia-ramfate-new-south-african-grassroots-cannabis-organization-launches-the-trca-township-and-rural-cannabis-association/

  5. Aug 10

    Karma Koala Podcast 329: Lelehnia Dubois - New Report, "HUMBOLDT LEGACY PROJECT HLP SKUNK #1 CASE STUDY REPORT" - Lore vs Law

    The koalas speak to Lelehnia about the report she has been working on for the past six years   REPORT AT A GLANCE - ONE PRESERVED SELECTION. MANY ENVIRONMENTS. Ten completed Grow-Off samples documented differences in measured cannabinoid and terpene composition among samples from one preserved selection produced under independent cultivation conditions. MEASURABLE VARIATION. A RECURRING THC-DOMINANT, MYRCENE-LED PATTERN. Total THC ranged from 8.88% to 25.35%; total terpenes ranged from 0.58% to 1.78%, while the completed samples remained THC-dominant and myrcene-led. VALUE BEYOND POTENCY. Among the ten respondents who answered the primary-choice question in a small exploratory consumer survey, none selected THC percentage as the primary reason for interest. PEOPLE, HISTORY, AND RESPONSIBILITY. The project combines scientific evidence with provenance, community knowledge, consent, and ethical stewardship. WHAT THIS REPORT INCLUDES PROVENANCE • GENETIC RESEARCH • LABORATORY DATA GROW-OFF • CONSUMER RESEARCH • ETHICAL FRAMEWORK   Executive Summary  The Humboldt Legacy Project was launched by Humboldt Grace in 2020 to explore ethical and practical ways to protect, document, and value cannabis genetics and the knowledge connected to them. HLP Skunk #1 became the project’s first cultivar-level case study. The work centered on two preserved selections donated to the project: HLP Skunk #1 No. 1 and HLP Skunk #1 No. 3. HendRx Farm served as the primary preservation partner. No. 1 supported consumer research and was later lost as living material. Both selections were registered through Canopyright; No. 3 was used for DNA-supported lineage research and the multi-farm Grow-Off. Distinguishing the selections was essential because findings from one plant cannot automatically be assigned to the other or to every plant sold as Skunk #1. The project combined historical research and private interviews with David Watson; provenance and acquisition records; whole-genome sequencing through Medicinal Genomics; a THC synthase gene comparison; Canopyright distributed-ledger registration; cultivation by independent growers; cannabinoid, terpene, and exploratory thiol testing through Infinite Chemical Analysis Labs; consumer research; educational programming; and finished-concentrate analysis involving ArcataX, Lightwork Distributors, and SC Labs. Twenty-nine farms and cultivators registered for the Grow-Off, and ten completed samples were represented in the primary Certificate of Analysis dataset. The research was community-led and conducted with approximately $1,463 in direct cash funding, extensive volunteer labor, and donated professional services. The scientific work contributed useful evidence, but it did not provide a complete answer. HLP Skunk #1 No. 3 showed consistency with the Weiblen Skunk #1 reference at the THC synthase gene examined. This supports continued investigation of the reported lineage; it does not prove complete cultivar identity, ownership, authenticity, or chain of custody. The project therefore uses the language “DNA-supported lineage research” rather than claiming that a laboratory test authenticated all of Skunk #1.  Read more: ⁠https://cannabislaw.report/wp-admin/post.php?post=288782&action=edit⁠

  6. Aug 2

    Karma Koala Podcast 328: Ruth Fisher – Behind The Scare Headlines Ruth Takes A Close Look At The Data On California Cannabis Related Poisonings Since 2016

    Anybody involved with keeping up to date with all things cannabis will have seen the recent plethora of media reports saying that cannabis poisonings are inundating ER departments. But what is the reality behind the headlines?What are the numbers? What are the numbers? Ruth analysed publicly available data for California since 2016 and unsurprisingly the results show a more nuanced, complex narrative where context is key.Listen, read the report  https://cannabislaw.report/karma-koala-podcast-328-ruth-fisher-behind-the-scare-headlines-ruth-takes-a-close-look-at-the-data-on-california-cannabis-related-poisonings-since-2016/

  7. Aug 1

    Karma Koala Podcast 327: Australia – Tim Schmidt The Tasmanian Farmer Behind The Just Published (30 July 2026) Australian Senate Report: Opportunities for the development of a hemp industry in Australia

    Kudos to Tim he’s just enabled one of the biggest changes to the Australian hemp landscape and globally we should all be paying attention. This could be a game changer for both Australia and the region. I talk to Tim about how he got the enquiry up and running and its findings and proposals including A) A Review of the advice of early 2025 from the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board with a view to reducing or simplifying, where appropriate, the licencing obligations imposed on stakeholders in the hemp industry. B) The committee recommends that the Australian Government, through the National Cabinet process, facilitates the recognition of state and territory licences across all jurisdictions. C)) The committee recommends the Australian Government establish a taskforce to develop a national hemp framework to harmonise hemp regulations nationally. See all 14 proposals detailed below We also talk about recent developments in NSW with the state government pumping investment into processing. Tim says, thank Cannabis party member Jeremy Buckingham. He made it happen. This puts NSW at the top of the Australian hemp reportcard with states like QLD  & Vic now seriously lagging due to repeated refusals to enage with the crop. Learn More ⁠https://cannabislaw.report/karma-koala-podcast-327-australia-tim-schmidt-the-tasmanian-farmer-behind-the-just-published-30-july-2026-australian-senate-report-opportunities-for-the-development-of-a-hemp-industry-in-austral/⁠

  8. Jul 29

    Karma Koala Podcast 326: Jerry Donnini Founder and CEO of SalesTaxHelper – The Complexity Of US Sales Tax Regimes In Highly Regulated Sectors

    It’s not the sexiest of topics, I grant you that, but i thought it would be interesting to talk to an expert in the space. Jerry works in the worlds of Cannabis, Vapes & Tobacco and lays bare some of the complexity for small and medium sized US businiess working in the space. Multiple layers of taxation that fleece the consumer and the retailer and much of it, it seems, purposefully designed to put pressure on smaller  end of cannabis retail. My first takeaway. If you are in a jurisdiction outside the US and you want to find out how not to do cannabis sales tax, the US is a good place to learn from. My other takeaway is that i’ve never really noticed the cannabis regulators in each of the states pay much attention to the issue. They are happy to pretend to support smaller business and equity set ups in words alone but little else. They’ll make them wait months even years for licenses then actually expect them to run a business with punishing overheads and city and sales taxes that up prices for the consumer and force producers to create mass market high THC cannabis that they have to wholesale at silly prices so that the consumer thinks they are getting some advantage for the cannabis they are buying. My analaogy would be the fast food market in the US. huge plates of food that aren’t nutritionally balanced or healthy for humans to consume, the same applies to cannabis except substiute large helpings with high THC levels which as we’re all learning isn’t the best for human health. Legislators, adminsitrators and regulators in states and cities actually have the power to do something about this, but they wont because as we all know a sin tax is a great earner and the thinking will never go beyond that.   Learn more ⁠https://cannabislaw.report/karma-koala-podcast-326-jerry-donnini-founder-and-ceo-of-salestaxhelper-the-complexity-of-us-sales-tax-regimes-in-highly-regulated-sectors/⁠

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About

The Karma Koala Podcast by Sean Hocking the founder and editor of Cannabis Law ReportThis podcast is one on one conversations , long-form and short-form covering all aspects of cannabis law, biz, compliance, issues, updates etc from around the world.Listen in - learn something new I speak with lawyers, politicians, CEO's, founders, regulators about the new global push for regulating cannabis use.

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  • Creator
    KARMA KOALA PODCAST
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    15
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 KARMA KOALA PODCAST
  • Show Website
    Karma Koala Podcast