US federal rescheduling now moves cannabinoid-based products to Schedule III. In our latest Trade To Black podcast, host Shadd Dales sits down with Aras Azatyan, CEO of Avicanna (TSX:AVCN / OTCQX:AVCNF) and Dr. Carolina Urban, Executive Vice President of Scientific and Medical Affairs, to talk about what US hemp realignment could mean for cannabinoid-based medicines. The move could have some profound implications for the Canadian cannabinoid biopharmaceutical company that has spent a decade building to this very moment.

There are three overlapping possibilities created by the rearrangement: increased interest from pharmaceutical and institutional investors now taking cannabinoid therapeutics seriously, the ability to advance clinical programs into US trial sites under a more permissive Schedule III framework, and a higher regulatory bar that rewards companies with established intellectual property and clinical infrastructure;

Azatyan argues that the vast majority of cannabis companies, both in Canada and the US, are not set up for a true pharmaceutical model. Complying with GMP standards, building CMC kits, and conducting phase one to three clinical trials require fundamentally different skills than operating dispensaries or manufacturing consumer products, and the gap cannot be closed quickly with capital alone.

Dr. Urban identified chronic pain and anxiety-related conditions as the most immediate therapeutic targets for the US market under Schedule III. Avicanna’s ongoing Phase II randomized controlled trial for osteoarthritic pain and Phase I THC anxiety study at the University of Calgary as the clearest near-term avenues for co-development partnerships with larger pharmaceutical companies.

Avicanna’s proprietary Qwik rapid-onset nanotechnology platform, designed to increase the rate of absorption and reduce variability in oral cannabinoid delivery, is potentially a ready-to-license vehicle that is well-suited to US pharmaceutical partnerships, especially as prescriptions push out standardized forms of smoking-only medications.

On the international level, Azatyan believes that one thing is true. adult-use cannabis is a domestic market play, while medical and pharmaceutical cannabis is international in nature. He pointed to the company’s Colombian subsidiary as a strategically positioned GMP-compliant supplier capable of serving global markets at competitive prices, with the possibility of one day exporting to the United States itself.

This and more in this episode.

Trade to Black welcomes two top Canadian LP CEOs for a CEO-focused episode. Our latest Trade To Black podcast presented by Flowhub hosts Shadd Dales and Anthony Varrell touch base with two top CEOs in the cannabis space after another busy week of earnings season. First, Organigram Holdings Inc ( NASDAQ:OGI ) CEO James Yamanaka joins the show after a softer quarterly earnings report that raised questions from investors. Then, in segment two, Village Farms International Inc. ( NASDAQ:VFF ) CEO Michael DeGiglio returns to the podcast following another strong earnings report, including 171% year-over-year growth in international hemp.

Organigram CEO James Yamanaka, four months into the role, reflects on a disappointing fiscal quarter profit of $59.8 million. There was great respect for the transparency James brought to the conversation, openly explaining some of the operational issues surrounding vapes and infused pre-rolls, while also outlining why he still believes the long-term story remains intact. After multiple acquisitions and major expansion moves over the past 18 months, James explains why management believes these are solvable operational issues rather than deeper issues within the business.

Internationally, he reports that the acquisition of Sanity Group in Germany is going well, as April’s results put the company on pace to meet its stated target of €25 million in the quarter. He also highlighted a leisure pilot program in Switzerland and signaled that Organigram will be judiciously pursuing further market expansion, prioritizing only those markets where it believes it can be in the top three.

Village Farms CEO Michael DeGiglio joins the show to discuss what he describes as an announcement quarter, not just a strong one, highlighted by 171 percent year-over-year international revenue growth. DeGiglio credited decades of greenhouse processing experience and a six-year commitment to EU GMP certification as the foundation of the company’s competitive moat, pushing back against the notion that US operators will easily dominate global export markets once the realignment is fully implemented. He argues that stability testing, regulatory compliance on both sides of the Atlantic, and the learning curve required to achieve true pharmaceutical-grade standards are significant hurdles that will take years, not months, to clear.

With the U.S. opportunity, DeGiglio confirmed that the company is actively reevaluating its Texas assets and broader U.S. entry strategy, taking into account: rearrangement Statement defining the April order as a transformational moment for the global industry.

In our latest Trade To Black podcast, host Shadd Dales and Anthony Varrell sit down with Safe Harbor Financial ( NASDAQ:SHFS ) CEO Terry Mendez to talk about what hemp finance could look like post-280E. When medical cannabis moves to Schedule III, the industry enters a very different phase. Operators are bracing for cleaner balance sheets, better cash flow and a lending environment that may finally look more rational.

Safe Harbor Financial ( NASDAQ:SHFS ) sits right in the middle of that conversation. Terry breaks down what Safe Harbor really is today – not just a “cannabis bank” but a compliance, lending, fintech and professional services platform built around cannabis operators and financial institutions. The conversation covers how Safe Harbor Financial ( NASDAQ:SHFS ) has repositioned itself under Terry, how the company has reduced debt, strengthened its balance sheet, and why its $25 billion in historical cannabis transaction data could be a key asset. They also access the DEA portal, where more than 400 companies have already filed, what operators need to prepare for under Schedule III and why small businesses can work together if they want to survive the next round of consolidation.

When asked if the struggling carriers simply represent a market correction rather than a fixable structural problem, Mendez acknowledged that shared services alone cannot drive profitability in the most saturated markets. However, his broader view was that too many operators entered the industry without a disciplined CPG playbook, citing site selection, foot traffic analysis and professional management as regularly overlooked fundamentals in cannabis that are non-negotiable in any other retail industry.

With the realignment now in motion, Mendez argues that the gap between well-managed and poorly managed businesses will accelerate. He predicted a wave of leveraged buyout-style consolidation in which better-capitalized players would acquire distressed assets at leveraged levels and run them more efficiently, a strategy he directly compared to the leveraged buyout culture of the 1980s. He also noted that listing on major exchanges would give large operators a currency of equity that would dramatically reduce their cost of capital and increase their acquisition opportunities.

This is a big-picture conversation about finance, lending, compliance, banking, M&A, and what happens when cannabis finally begins to move into a more normal financial system.