Welcome The Economist Cannabis Summit special edition of The Voice of Retail podcast, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. This special episode contains content intended for listeners 19+. I was able to chat with three of the many interesting people in the cannabis industry represented at this event starting with veteran Toronto retail Robin Ellins, owner of the Friendly Stranger, this year celebrating 25 years in the cannabis culture and accessory space from his Queen Street store in Toronto. Next I spoke with Emmy award winning director Abbey Epstein on her documentary “Weed The People”. Last but certainly not least a rare, exclusive interview with Jim Tebrake, Assistant Chief statistician, Economic Statistics, Statistics Canada about the innovative approach Stats. Canada took to sizing the retail (black market) cannabis market.
Welcome The Economist Cannabis Summit special edition of The Voice of Retail podcast, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. This special episode contains content intended for listeners 19+.
Held in Toronto June 5, The Economist Cannabis Summit brought together an international roster of speakers addressing the cannabis industry from several perspectives, and true to The Economist magazine brought insights and sometimes controversy to the main stage.
I was able to chat with three of the many interesting people in the cannabis industry represented at this event starting with veteran Toronto retail Robin Ellins, owner of the Friendly Stranger, this year celebrating 25 years in the cannabis culture and accessory space from his Queen Street store in Toronto. We talked about authenticity and what it will take to compete in the retail cannabis marketplace in the years to come.
Next I spoke with Emmy award winning director Abbey Epstein on her documentary “Weed The People” which looks at medical cannabis in the U.S., and talk about the lessons she learned about the plant’s history of stigmatization and prospects for decriminalization in America.
Last but certainly not least a rare, exclusive interview with Jim Tebrake, Assistant Chief statistician, Economic Statistics, Statistics Canada about the innovative approach Stats. Canada took to sizing the retail (black market) cannabis market and his ongoing insights measuring Canadians use and consumption and the industries production dynamics.
Let’s jump right in now starting with my interview with Robin from The Friendly Stranger
Thanks again to my special guests Robin, Abby and Jim for joining me on this special edition.
The day concluded with a fireside chat with Vicente Fox, former President of Mexico and current board member at Canada-based cannabis company Khiron Life Sciences, sharing his observations based on ten years of focus of the cannabis space. Amongst many things, he also spoke about integrating cannabis into NAFTA and other forward looking economic, policy and political objectives. Check out this interview in BNN:
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/video/cannabis-should-be-tied-into-revamped-nafta-deal-former-mexico-president-vicente-fox~1701077
That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail, if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on iTunes or your
favourite podcast platform, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry. You can also ask your favourite home devices, Amazon Echo, Google home to play the most recent edition.
I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn
Until then, have a great week