Media & Impact
Cannabis Wise Guys contributes operational intelligence to policy debates, market analysis, and industry education. Our policy contributions are grounded in commercial-scale operational experience—we testify on market structure because we've lived the consequences of bad regulations in the grow room.
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Our experience working with facilities across multiple adult-use markets has informed our analysis on everything from licensing frameworks to compliance feasibility, giving us a unique perspective that bridges regulatory theory with cultivation reality.
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Our work has informed state legislatures, shaped regulatory discourse, and provided reality checks for operators navigating the Green Fault Line between capital, compliance, and cultivation.
Published Analysis
Articles written by Max Jackson.
Marijuana Moment
Virginia Rejected a Monopoly Model for Marijuana, But Lawmakers Need to Finish the Job (Op-Ed)
December 10, 2025
Summary: Analysis of Virginia's proposed cannabis framework arguing that strong policy intent will fail without operational guardrails. The piece breaks down three structural threats: the $10 million pharmaceutical processor conversion fee (a discount against $200 million in recent territory sales), the 120-day launch window (mathematically impossible for new cultivators to complete a crop cycle), and the missing enforcement mechanisms for seed-to-sale tracking and testing integrity. Proposes "Market Readiness" benchmarks that tie retail launch to competitive supply, not arbitrary calendar dates—preventing the MSO lockout that plagued Arizona's 80-day rollout.
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Marijuana Moment
Hemp Needs What Alcohol Already Has: A Clear Definition (Op-Ed)
November 10, 2025
Summary: An op-ed analyzing the federal hemp standoff and proposing a framework to separate wellness products from intoxicating cannabis—demonstrating how operational understanding informs better policy design.
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RVA Magazine
So You Want a Virginia Cannabis License? Read This First.
October 16, 2025
Summary: An operator's playbook for prospective Virginia cannabis licensees. This article outlines the strategic, legal, and financial preparations necessary to navigate a market shaped by regulatory capture and incumbent pressure, offering a reality check on everything from budgeting and facility design to the punishing impact of IRS §280E. A must-read for investors evaluating Virginia market entry or capital deployment decisions.
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University Press (Florida Atlantic University)
Amendment 2 Forum: Is Medical Marijuana Legalization Good For Florida?
October 10, 2014
Summary: A photo-journalistic piece from the Florida Atlantic University paper covering a public forum on the 2014 Amendment 2 ballot initiative, which debated the legalization of medical marijuana in Florida.
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Legislative Testimony
Direct testimony and presentations to regulatory and legislative bodies.
Virginia Cannabis Oversight Commission
Watch: Testimony on Market Architecture & Regulatory Capture
October 6, 2025
Operational Intelligence Informs Policy: How One Operator's Experience Prevents Market Failures: Max Jackson testified before the Virginia Cannabis Oversight Commission on the structural risks of limited-license market models and the proven benefits of competitive market design. Drawing evidence from multi-state failures (Illinois, Arizona, Connecticut, Florida), the analysis demonstrates how incumbent market capture leads to failed social equity programs, inflated consumer prices, and thriving illicit markets.
The testimony proposes four evidence-based guardrails to prevent regulatory capture: phased market launch prioritizing new Virginia operators, strict canopy limits preventing license stacking, multi-year social equity lockups, and regular data-driven market reviews. The core argument: Virginia has a rare opportunity to learn from 24 states' legalization experiments and implement proven competitive market architecture from day one.
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Educational Presentations & Speaking
Guest lectures and presentations on operational feasibility, market analysis, and cannabis industry fundamentals.
Stockton University
Guest Lecture: The 8-Question Reality Check for Cannabis Ventures
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A presentation on how to evaluate cannabis ventures for operational and financial viability. The lecture walks through eight critical diagnostic questions—from space allocation and construction budgets to staffing and contingency planning—that separate viable projects from speculative failures.
Max Jackson connects each question to career opportunities in specialized roles: facility design, HVAC engineering, compliance, automation, data analysis, and project management. For students, operators, and professionals, this framework shows how understanding operational constraints directly translates into high-value career pathways in the cannabis industry.
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Want the diagnostic framework behind this lecture?
Industry Coverage
News articles and features about Max Jackson and Cannabis Wise Guys.
Virginia Mercury
Virginia cannabis panel weighs retail roadmap against safety, access and equity concerns
October 7, 2025
Summary: This article covers the Joint Commission meeting, warning that giving medical incumbents a head start in the adult-use market leads to corporate capture, higher prices, and fails to displace the illicit market.
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Marijuana Moment
Virginia Lawmakers Discuss Steps To Prepare State To Legalize Recreational Marijuana Sales Next Year
October 7, 2025
Summary: This piece summarizes the legislative commission meeting, highlighting testimony on avoiding market consolidation and arguing that Virginia should not give existing medical businesses an unfair advantage in the recreational market.
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RVA Magazine
Who Benefits From Virginia’s Cannabis Chaos? Small Businesses Want Answers
October 9, 2025
Summary: An investigation into the coordinated legislative and enforcement pressures on Virginia's small hemp businesses. This piece covers the testimony from the General Assembly session and questions who stands to gain as the state moves toward a regulated adult-use market.
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Industry Conversations
Conversations on the state of the industry.
Growcast
Scaling Up, Pest Pressure, and the State of the Cannabis Industry (Forthcoming)
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Summary: A discussion on the realities of scaling from a home grow to a commercial operation. Max Jackson covers the common pitfalls, the importance of planning and monitoring, and shares unfiltered stories about dealing with severe pest infestations and the challenges of navigating emerging markets, broken testing standards, and corporate interests.
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Listen Here
Cannabis Accounting Podcast
Operational Reality Checks in Cannabis Cultivation​
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Summary: Max Jackson discusses the real-world operational challenges in cannabis cultivation, bridging the gap between plants and finance. Topics include infrastructure oversights, the critical need for Integrated Pest Management (IPM), the overlooked complexities of green waste disposal, and common pitfalls in budgeting for operational expenditures versus capital expenditures.
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Karma Koala Podcast
Cannabis, Water Usage, and Challenging Regulations​
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Summary: A deep dive into the often-overlooked topics of water usage and irrigation in industrialized cannabis. The conversation covers the challenges posed by inexperienced regulators, the inefficiencies of systems like Metrc, and the critical disconnect between investors and the on-the-ground realities of growing the plant.
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Future Cannabis Project
Leveraging Metrc Data for Cannabis Cultivation Optimization​
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Summary: Max Jackson reveals how to transform mandatory Metrc data into a powerful tool for cultivation optimization. He explains how to create "heatmaps" to visualize plant performance, identify microclimate issues, and make informed decisions on irrigation and canopy management. The discussion also critically examines the cost and efficacy of Metrc and the industry's shift towards data-driven, quality-focused cultivation.
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