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Cannabis Media Spotlight Series: Q&A with Josh Kasoff, Journalist & Writer

Cannabis Media Spotlight Series: Q&A with Josh Kasoff, Journalist & Writer

Welcome to the Cannabis Media Spotlight Series! We created this Q&A series to celebrate the incredible work that reporters, editors, and podcast hosts do to shed light on the cannabis industry. Their insights and stories play a vital role in shaping how this space is understood and appreciated by the world.


Our goal is to highlight their journey, their expertise, and the meaningful impact of their work.


This week's feature is Josh Kasoff! Journalist and Writer, Josh writes for mycannabis.com, and covers cannabis law and politics for Vegas Legal Magazine and Vegas Wellness Magazine. (Formerly Vegas Cannabis Magazine).


Jump into the Q&A:


What inspired you to start covering the cannabis industry, and how has your perspective evolved since you began?

Despite not majoring in journalism when I attended University of North Texas, I had always loved the written word and documenting peoples’ incredible stories. When I visited Las Vegas for a fraternity convention in July of 2017, recreational dispensaries had only just started operations three weeks prior. Even with only a few weeks to perfect it, the dispensaries I visited during that trip were efficiently run and the budtenders were very knowledgeable. Essence, now Rise, more resembled an Apple Store as opposed to a “weed store” and Planet 13 was a megaplex you could easily get lost in.


Through those visits and from writing my first few cannabis articles, I saw the truly powerful potential of this industry and all the subjects of traditional journalism that were relevant towards this still somewhat nascent industry. Law, politics, business, economics, technology, advocacy, human interest and lifestyle.


In February of 2019, I moved out to Las Vegas from Dallas and began to cover the Nevada industry from a somewhat Gonzo journalism approach by working in it directly and writing articles from there. Along with journalism, I’ve worked in various post-harvest roles and now I’m currently a sample pickup technician for a testing lab here in town.


Since I cover politics, my perspective on cannabis has changed in that I see cannabis support and industry expansion as a bipartisan effort now as opposed to only a liberal/Democrat effort when I started covering cannabis in 2017. There are very high-profile conservatives I’ve interviewed such as Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller who supports the medical usage of cannabis and the Mississippi Legislature, the deepest red of all the red states, passed a medical cannabis bill by a significant margin in 2022.


Republican-leaning states such as Ohio, Virginia and Missouri have fully legalized cannabis for adult use. The Congressional Cannabis Caucus is evenly bipartisan and features Florida Congressman and Purple Heart Veteran Brian Mast.


What are some of the most compelling trends, stories, or issues in the cannabis industry right now that you think deserve more attention?

The efforts and possibilities of federal reform and rescheduling absolutely deserve all the journalistic attention that the subjects can get. If cannabis were to be rescheduled from Schedule I to Schedule III, the ramifications would be more far-reaching than some cannabis consumers may realize.


Fully licensed cannabis companies would finally have access to FDIC-insured banking services, retirement plans such as 401K’s would become far more common for cannabis employees, cannabis patients would finally be able to bring their medicine into federal buildings and parks, physicians with the Veterans’ Affairs could finally discuss cannabis with their patients, cannabis employees could have access to government-backed loans to buy a home with, medical cannabis patients that live in public housing could be able to legally consume their medicine in their residence.


And being born and raised in Texas, I’m most interested in covering the reforms regarding federal cannabis rescheduling and 2nd Amendment rights. In some states such as Nevada for instance, a medical cannabis patient can’t conceal carry or own firearms. If rescheduling were to occur, perhaps some of those laws may be amended as well.


What advice would you give to cannabis businesses or PR professionals hoping to connect with you or pitch their stories effectively?

I’d say just reach out on Instagram, LinkedIn, or feel free to pitch to mycannabis.com directly on the Contact Us page. I’m always looking for whatever or whoever is innovative and noteworthy in the cannabis industry and what the future of the industry holds with possible rescheduling on the legislative horizon, so please feel free to reach out! What I love most about covering the cannabis industry is that there’s so many interesting people from so many diverse walks of life to cover in this young yet rapidly growing industry.


What’s been one of the most memorable stories or moments in your career covering cannabis so far?

I’ve had the distinct honor of interviewing multiple Nevada representatives from both sides of the aisle who’ve been directly influential in further cannabis reform in The Silver State. From Speaker of the Nevada Assembly Steve Yeager, to State Senator Rochelle Nguyen to Assemblywoman Danielle Gallant who became the first Republican representative to host a re-election event at a cannabis consumption lounge (admittedly one of the more fun political events I covered). My interview in Vegas Wellness Magazine (then Vegas Cannabis Magazine) with Nevada Assemblyman Reuben D’Silva who is an immigrant, Purple Heart veteran and now a public school teacher was particularly impactful.


I’ve also attended speeches by Nevada Senator Jacky Rosen, one of the most pro-cannabis members of the United States Senate, and current Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.


Also being a 90’s kid myself who grew up during the Attitude Era of WWE, being able to interview both Rob Van Dam and The Godfather, two of my favorite wrestlers growing up, and hear about these wildly memorable matches and stories was truly awesome. My usual interviews in person go for about 30 minutes at most, however my interview with The Godfather went beyond an hour and a half easily. They both had many direct cannabis references as part of their in-ring personas, so it’s refreshing to see that they’re using their considerable platforms to showcase the potential benefits of medical cannabis.


Most importantly though, covering the diversity of cannabis advocates and all the vast groups of people who’ve been positively impacted from this plant, whether that be veterans or parents of children with epileptic conditions, senior citizens living in a red stronghold state or families tragically torn apart by previous cannabis laws, that’s been the most rewarding part of covering cannabis.

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