In the latest Trade To Black podcast presented by Flowhub, hosts Shadd Dales and Anthony Varrell work through Monday’s heavy news feed. Global hemp industry expert and consultant Deepak Anand also joins in to declassify DEA enforcement and hemp exports.

In headlines, SNDL (NASDAQ: SNDL , CSE: SNDL ) completed the acquisition of Parallel’s Surterra assets in Florida, Texas and Massachusetts, making it one of the first Nasdaq-listed companies with direct, consolidated exposure to US medical cannabis operations and adding to 24’s rehab network. The company expects to convert its indirect Sunstream exposure to direct holdings in the coming months.

Glass House Brands (NYSE: GLAS , Cboe CA: GLAS.AU ) has retained former DEA compliance executive Matt Murphy to advise on interstate trade and export opportunities, building on the first DEA-compliant compliance program at Khiron Life Sciences in Colombia. Vireo Growth (CSE: VREO , OTCQX: VREOF ) has agreed to acquire troubled Planet 13 Holdings, a deal that boosts its Nevada and Florida footprint and total dispensary count to 265 in 15 states, positioning it as the largest U.S. cannabis operator by store deals completed. Landlords see Planet 13 paying the most in Nevada while noting execution risk in Trulieve, Verano, Curaleaf and Ayr in Florida, and reviewed GTI’s experiential branding boost in Illinois.

In the second segment, Anand emphasized that DEA’s inspections are focused on registration and focused on retail trade, not B2B or export, and that there is no such thing as an “export license,” only import/export permits issued by the DEA, with the export of cannabis solely for medical and scientific purposes under UN treaties. He explained that FDA involvement and CGMP standards remain a major hurdle, EU-GMP certification typically takes 18 to 24 months, and that would-be exporters should first ask what their “right to win” really is in a given market, rather than assuming that certification unlocks everything. He went through the realities of the supply chain—Canada’s dominance, Portugal’s InfraMed pressures and permit bottlenecks, and Germany’s horticultural medical market—and shared his reading of why Germany is more likely to follow the Swiss pilot approach than full adult-use legalization.

Hear what else they had to say.

In the latest Trade To Black podcast presented by Flowhub, hosts Shadd Dales and Anthony Varrell kick off the week with Definium Therapeutics Chief Medical Officer Dr. Dan Carlin joining the psych side and Michael Bronstein returning to the Insiders Edge segment. The big news? The DEA’s ALJ, Derek Julius, set an Aug. 17 deadline for filing briefs.

In headlines, Organigram (TSX: OGI , NASDAQ: OGI ) issued a business update with new details on Sanity’s early platform performance and updated its Canadian market share position, giving a clearer picture of how the company is preparing for its next phase of growth. The anchors also flagged Cantor Fitzgerald, which initiated coverage on Curaleaf with an overweight rating and a $15 price target that was still trading later in the day, and previewed Glass House Brands ringing the NYSE bell on Aug. 28, with AdvisorShares likely to follow.

In the first segment, Carlin introduced Definium Therapeutics (NASDAQ: DFTX ) and its lead asset, DT120, a pharmaceutically optimized LSD tablet, citing efficacy data among the strongest in the industry, including a 17.6-point MADRS improvement after one dose at one week as monotherapy. He presented an April executive order promoting psychiatric research as meaningful recognition, but stressed that the science stands on its own.

Following Eli Lilly’s (NYSE: LLY ) acquisition of AtaiBeckley (NASDAQ: ATAI ), Carlin explained why Definium intends to stay independent through its Phase III studies, FDA submission and potential commercialization starting in 2027, arguing that there is plenty of room for multiple drugs in psychiatry given how many people suffer from anxiety. He also touched on retreatment models, AI-enabled quality control and the FDA’s review posture, while noting that it’s been nearly 19 years since a new generalized anxiety drug was approved.

In the second segment, Bronstein, chairman of ATACH, anticipates the short August 17 deadline, explaining what happens after that date and whether the ALJ’s proposed decision can realistically come before the end of August. He described it as a process that typically takes years, compressed into months, warned the industry is not used to playing with the leader, and went through the multifaceted battle ahead; On cannabis, Bronstein said little has materially changed in Congress since last year’s vote, suggesting the Nov. 12 ban remains on track.

Dales and Varell had thoughts on how Trump’s cannabis signals during the election year. Hear what else they had to say.

In the latest Trade To Black podcast presented by Flowhub, hosts Shad Dales and Anthony Varrell unpack the bipartisan cannabis bill, then sit down with Flowhub founder and CEO Kyle Sherman to discuss where cannabis technology is headed before Dr. Paul Shields joins the weekly Vantage a Standard segment on CB.

In the headlines, Reps. Andy Barr and Angie Craig introduced the Legal Hemp Protection Act, which would raise the total THC limit to 1% as measured on the finished product, keep intoxicating cannabis legal for adults 21 and older, ban synthetic conversions like Delta-8 and THCP, establish 3-style alcohol rules, and set labeling style rules and THCP. federal retail and THC tax. Dales and Varrell questioned the short-term prospects of a bill to attach to the continuing resolution or end the Nov. 12 ban, and reiterated their view that there should not be two separate industries;

In the first segment, Sherman talked about open cannabis technology ecosystems, arguing that dispensaries with separate systems for POS, e-commerce, payments, loyalty, compliance and analytics need the freedom to choose best-in-class tools rather than being locked into a single vendor’s roadmap. He described what retailers really need to own—their customer relationships, data, brand, and choice of technology partners—and went through Flowhub’s headless commerce offering, Open Ecommerce, which allows operators to build custom websites, apps, kiosks, and new shopping channels without breaking their core system. He also explained why credit card adoption could still be years away even under Schedule III, argued that cannabis will eventually become a bigger category than alcohol as habits shift toward health, and cited Flowhub data showing that 52% of cannabis retailers are already using AI, primarily for data analysis.

In part two, Shields addressed a nearly 50-year research gap into the efficacy of cannabis, arguing that later-stage clinical trials can move relatively quickly given the available safety data. He addressed the gap between a retail dose of CBD and a therapeutic dose, which often starts at around 50 milligrams and goes up to 150-300, and what that means for consistency and production, as many users try an overdose of the product once, feel nothing, and write off the category. He also covered the real risks of cannabinoid interactions with medications such as blood thinners and anti-epileptics, the potential decline of the indica/sativa spectrum in a medical context, and the open research questions surrounding terpenes and environmental influences.