The Hybrid

#20 | Would You Rather Regulate? Cannabis Policy Nightmares

Shawn Collins of THC Group [https://www.homegrown-group.com] and Erik Gundersen of ERG Strategies [https://ergstrategies.com/] go guest-free for a looser, host-only episode of The Hybrid about the messy middle of cannabis legalization. The conversation starts in Virginia, where adults can legally possess cannabis but still do not have a regulated adult-use retail market. Shawn and Erik unpack what happens when legalization moves faster than implementation, why legal possession without legal access creates an unfinished policy framework, and how delay can make the eventual regulatory job even harder. From there, they play “Would You Rather Regulate?” and work through a series of uncomfortable cannabis policy choices: oversupply versus market concentration, THC beverages versus consumption lounges, hated seed-to-sale systems versus limited market visibility, lab integrity issues versus youth-appeal packaging, and legislatures that either change the law constantly or refuse to fix obvious problems. This episode is a little more fun, a little more unfiltered, and still grounded in the real work of cannabis regulation: enforcement, product safety, market design, political pressure, and the tradeoffs that come with building a system in public. 🎧 New episodes drop regularly. Follow @TheHybridPod on Instagram for updates. 🔎 Topics: cannabis legalization, cannabis regulation, Virginia cannabis, adult-use cannabis, cannabis retail, market structure, oversupply, hemp beverages, THC beverages, consumption lounges, seed-to-sale tracking, cannabis testing, packaging, cannabis policy, The Hybrid podcast

#19 | From Wild West to Working System: Adria Berry on Regulating Oklahoma Cannabis

Shawn Collins of THC Group and Erik Gundersen of ERG Strategies sit down with Adria Berry, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, to talk about regulating one of the most closely watched cannabis markets in the country. Adria reflects on stepping into Oklahoma’s medical marijuana program during a period of explosive growth, enforcement pressure, and public scrutiny. The conversation explores what it took to build OMMA into a standalone agency, how the state responded to oversupply and illicit market concerns, and what regulators actually confront when an industry matures in real time. They also discuss the changing relationship between state and federal cannabis policy, the implications of Schedule III, and what Adria has learned serving as President of the Cannabis Regulators Association (CANNRA). This episode is a candid look at leadership, public service, and the difficult balance between access, enforcement, and accountability in modern cannabis regulation. 🎧 New episodes drop regularly. Follow @TheHybridPod on Instagram for updates. 🔎 Topics: Oklahoma cannabis, OMMA, cannabis regulation, enforcement, illicit market, Schedule III, cannabis policy, CANNRA, medical marijuana, The Hybrid podcast

#18 | From Pickles to Plants - Willy Vlasic on Building a Trusted Brand and Cannabis’s Hard Truths

Shawn Collins of THC Group and Erik Gundersen of ERG Strategies sit down with Willy Vlasic, founder of Vlasic Labs, to talk about building a cannabis brand with a name people already trust. Willy shares how he came up in cannabis from the ground level, why he chose not to chase the intoxicating hemp boom, and what it takes to build something durable in a fragmented, highly regulated market. The conversation also explores how cannabis compares to traditional consumer brands and where the industry is heading next. They also discuss Willy’s commitment to criminal justice reform through the Last Prisoner Project, including his advocacy around the case of jailed basketball player Jarred Shaw. 🎧 New episodes drop regularly. Follow @TheHybridPod on Instagram for updates. 🔎 Topics: cannabis industry, hemp vs cannabis, CBD, brand building, consumer trust, cannabis policy, criminal justice reform, Vlasic Labs, The Hybrid podcast https://www.lastprisonerproject.org/ https://www.forgottenprisoner.org/ https://freedomgrow.org/

#17 | Cannabis Receiverships: Why Cannabis Businesses Fail and How Restructuring Works

Shawn Collins of THC Group and Erik Gundersen of ERG Strategies sit down with Jacques Santucci, founder of Opus Consulting, to unpack a side of the cannabis industry that rarely makes the headlines but is becoming increasingly common as markets mature: financial distress. Cannabis businesses are operating in a demanding environment. Wholesale prices have compressed in many states, capital has tightened, taxes remain high, and regulatory costs continue to shape the economics of running a licensed operation. Even capable operators can find themselves under serious pressure. Jacques works directly inside those moments. Through Opus Consulting, he advises cannabis companies, lenders, and investors on strategy, restructuring, and receiverships when businesses need to stabilize operations, protect assets, or prepare for sale. The conversation walks through why cannabis companies end up in distress, the warning signs owners often ignore too long, and how receiverships actually work inside a licensed and highly regulated industry. They also explore the role regulators play when a cannabis license holder runs into financial trouble and what policymakers should understand about the realities of distressed operators. They close by stepping back from individual cases to look at what the rise in restructurings says about the cannabis industry more broadly, including consolidation, operational discipline, and the next phase of market maturity. 🎧 New episodes drop regularly. Follow @TheHybridPod on Instagram for updates. 🔎 Topics: cannabis industry restructuring, cannabis receiverships, distressed cannabis companies, cannabis business strategy, cannabis regulation, cannabis finance, regulated markets, industry consolidation, Opus Consulting, The Hybrid podcast

#16 | Designing Cannabis Policy in the Age of AI

Shawn Collins of THC Group and Erik Gundersen of ERG Strategies sit down with Mackenzie Slade of Cannabis Public Policy Consulting (CPPC) to unpack a phrase that gets thrown around in every cannabis hearing and rulemaking: “evidence-based policy.” They get specific. What does evidence look like when the best data is observational, the politics is loud, and the market evolves faster than regulators can write rules? The conversation moves through cannabis regulatory science, including emerging work using AI to approximate human affect ratings of cannabis imagery, and what that could mean for advertising review, compliance, and defensibility. From there, they dig into randomized controlled trials and why trial design matters for policy levers that actually move behavior, including taxes, labeling, and consumer trust. Switzerland’s adult-use public health experiments come up as a case study in what policy looks like when government treats research as infrastructure, not window dressing. They close with hemp through late 2026. Demand exists. Channels are shifting. Definitions and enforcement will decide who captures the spend, and who gets squeezed. Referenced in this episode: AI Study (medRxiv preprint): https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.11.14.25339699 [https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.11.14.25339699] Swiss RCT Study Design (Frontiers in Psychiatry): https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1139325 Swiss RCT Outcomes (Addiction): https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70080 [https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70080] Verasight (representative sampling firm): https://www.verasight.io/ [https://www.verasight.io/] 🎧 New episodes drop regularly. Follow @TheHybridPod on Instagram for updates. 🔎 Topics: cannabis regulatory science, evidence-based policy, AI and compliance, cannabis advertising rules, randomized controlled trials, policy experimentation, labeling and consumer trust, hemp-derived THC, market demand, regulatory governance, CPPC, The Hybrid podcast