Memorable Quotes & Takeaways From Cannabis Conference 2023

The Cannabis Conference 2023 educational program covered a lot of ground in three days—from how to launch cultivation and dispensary businesses to new research on secondary metabolite production to marketing and branding strategies. No matter the topic, one common theme heard in sessions, at networking parties and on the expo floor during the August event was the critical need for industry professionals to collaborate to ensure cannabis markets—and access to legal, safe and tested products—remains viable. More than 1,000 professionals from 46 U.S. states and 20 countries gathered in Las Vegas, Aug. 15-17, for Cannabis Conference’s seventh-annual event, which featured more than 40 educational sessions, 80-plus speakers, more than 100 exhibitors and lots of networking opportunities, including an official after-party poolside at the Paris Las Vegas. While it’s impossible to encapsulate the sincere, meaningful conversations and actionable takeaways that took place, here are some key highlights from Cannabis Conference 2023.

Keynote Address: What I’ve Learned in Cannabis

“In the cannabis market today … I have to pay close attention to costs and margins.

“I had to evolve as a grower. At one point in my grow, I think there was about 30 of us for 300 lights. It’s now shrunken down to six. I had to lay off a lot of people who I love who had been with my company since the beginning because we just can’t afford it anymore. And that’s where automation … comes into play.

“In the beginning we were doing so well, and I thought I was so cool that I didn’t need to search out anybody else’s grow. … But as things started to get a little more tight, price compression came, I had to start going out and visiting some of my competitors and visiting other brands and say, ‘Hey bro, what are you producing for? How are you getting there?’ … So I had to put my pride aside and start getting out to other operators, other people I knew in the space who were producing really good product but were producing it for a lower cost than I was because I had to bring my pricing down.

“I’m from Los Angeles, and I love L.A. L.A.’s my heart. I’m the No. 1 social equity applicant in Los Angeles, so there’s a lot of weight there I carry around, a badge of honor in the city of Los Angeles. I grew up there. Unfortunately now because of price compression and because in the city of Los Angeles rent and price for property is extremely high … I have to leave Los Angeles, and that’s what my brand is about, that’s what Chris Ball is about. Now I’m building a facility in Lancaster. Why? Lancaster charges 1% of cannabis tax in the city. … Price per kilowatt from Southern California Edison for power [is] 8 cents as opposed to 28. Labor, everything else is completely cheap. So that’s a bittersweet pill to swallow. Yes, I’m happy because I’ve already ran the numbers, and I know we’re going to succeed based off of what we’re doing now, based on the cost savings, but it’s bitter because I have to leave my city.” 

—Chris Ball, CEO & Owner, Ball Family Farms

“The leader should always be available. Anyone who has a group of people that relies on them, you should be available for your team. At our facility, we have a one-on-one signup sheet, so that means any one of my 420 employees in cultivation can go to that sheet and see where I have a free 15- or 30-minute slot and sign up. They can come and talk to me about how their cat died, or that their mom doesn’t like them anymore or maybe they grew the highest testing pot Lume’s ever had or maybe they have a good idea for marketing. I just want to hear their ideas.

Not everything has a clear return on investment, but it’s putting the emotional intent and effort forward to give back to your team and get them more involved and let them know you care. The small little personal things about people, talk about them. Bring ‘em up. All those little things, they keep you intertwined with your group. That’s what keeps us connected, that’s what keeps us rolling on the same path and feeling good about each other.”  

— Kevin Kuethe (above), chief cultivation officer, Lume Cannabis Co.

“You’ve got to have an appetite for risk. You’re going to make huge mistakes and fail big, but you’re going to make really good decisions and win big as well. So being able to be resilient when something trips you up I think is equally as important.

“And then you need to have focus and vision. You need to start with the end in mind. … Am I going to be a conscious operator? Am I going to be somebody that’s mindful about business practices? Do I care about the environment? All of those little things are important. Do I want to keep this business for the long run? Do I want to bring in other partners at some point to help me operate this thing? Do I want to sell it? I think those are all critical considerations when you start the business and establish your goals.”

— Christina Betancourt Johnson (above), owner and CEO, Standard Wellness Maryland and Rooted Therapeutics

“Parkinson’s patients have already been using cannabis for their symptoms, so that’s not new. What’s new is we’re trying to identify which specific molecules within the plant can give increased benefit in combination with each other. We were looking specifically to come up with formulations that would help reduce Parkinsonian movement symptoms, but also we’ve been showing in our animal trials that some of the other side effects of Parkinson’s, like mood and others, may also be improved by specific [cannabinoid] combinations.”  

— Andrea Small-Howard (above), chief science officer, president, GB Sciences 

“We have indications by now that many environmental conditions affect secondary metabolites in cannabis, similar to the way they are known to affect secondary metabolite production in other crops. … From day one, it’s been almost 9 years that I’ve been involved in cannabis, it was always important to me to share information and to work together with growers. This early stage of the industry, when it’s developing, any information that can be used eventually for practical application is going to advance the industry.

“One has to be careful about pushing too much Nitrogen if wanting to preserve quality, and therefore we recommend a compromise between biomass production and concentration, which is 160 [ppm].”

— Nirit Bernstein (above), Professor of Plant Physiology and Head of The Cannabis Physiology And Agronomy Lab, ARO, Volcani Research Center, sharing some of the key findings of her research studying the interaction between environmental conditions and nutrients and secondary metabolite production in cannabis