Veteran journalist and communications professional Ricardo Baca, an authority on legal cannabis markets, returns to the podcast medium this week with his new weekly show Cannabis & Main. The program, produced and distributed by premium media and lifestyle brand Civilized, represents Mr. Baca’s first return to podcasting since resigning in 2016 from The Denver Post’s award-winning marijuana news site The Cannabist, for which he hosted more than 99 episodes.
“Ricardo is the ideal host for this show—Civilized’s very first podcast—because of his in-depth knowledge, his familiarity with the subject matter and his unparalleled experience in the world’s first regulated cannabis market,” said Civilized CEO and Publisher Derek Riedle. “One of our primary goals at Civilized is to change the conversation on cannabis. Bringing Ricardo back to podcasting, to go deep with some of the brightest minds of our day and really engage our audience, is an ideal way to do that.”
Cannabis & Main will tackle a multitude of subjects, from PTSD and social justice to pesticides and impaired driving. How is cannabis changing the way we practise self-care and prescribe medication and steer drug policy? Mr. Baca will dig into these topics and more, beginning with the series premiere on cannabis and PTSD, featuring guest Marcel Bonn-Miller, an Ivy League professor and one of the most widely respected marijuana researchers in the world.
After more than two decades of professional journalism at daily newspapers, including more than three years as The Denver Post’s first-ever Cannabis Editor, Mr. Baca is one of the most trusted thought leaders in the legal cannabis space. Speaking regularly across the United States, Canada and Europe, Mr. Baca pens columns for The Daily Beast, Cannabis Now, mg and Sensi magazine and is now Founder and CEO of Grasslands: A Journalism-Minded Agency, a communications firm managing public relations, content and thought leadership campaigns for businesses and executives in cannabis, hemp and other industries.
“I can’t wait to really dig in with these distinguished subject matter experts,” said Mr. Baca, following his June 2018 appearances at the World Cannabis Congress in Saint John, New Brunswick and the O’Cannabiz Conference & Expo in Toronto, Ontario. “I’ve built a career on separating the still-rampant misinformation from decades of prohibition from the legit information backed by science, data and actual experience, and I look forward to continuing that tradition with Cannabis & Main.”
Cannabis & Main reunites Mr. Baca with his longtime producer Vince Chandler for the first time since they wrapped the original iteration of The Cannabist Show. Cannabis & Main is produced by Civilized, ƒ/4.20 Films and Grasslands: A Journalism-Minded Agency.
Congratulations to Ricardo. We had the chance to speak to him ourselves at MJBIZCONNEXT. Listen to our interview below