What happens when you walk straight out of the grow room and hit record?

In this special On the Road episode, I visited Medcan Australia in Southeast Queensland for a behind-the-scenes look at one of the country’s earliest licensed cannabis producers. After the tour, I sat down with co-founder and CCO Gareth Ball for a raw, in-the-moment chat about cultivation, product development, market pressure, and why Australia needs to back its own industry.

From pheno-hunting wins (and fails) to research gaps, global comparisons, and the launch of Medcan’s new cultivar, Velvet Thunder.

Whether you’re a patient, producer, or just passionate about homegrown cannabis, this episode is packed with deep insights, bold ideas, and that signature AusCanna curiosity.

📍Recorded on-site in Southeast Queensland.

👉 Got a Rapid Fire question you want me to ask a guest? Email them to AusCannaReviews@gmail.com. I love including questions from the community!

💚 Want to support the podcast? Tap the Buy Me a Coffee link in the show notes!

In this episode, we cover a lot of topics, including:

* Rapid Fire (2:42 )

* Who is Gareth Ball? (10:49 )

* The story behind Medcan Australia (12:02 )

* From pheno-hunting to products in patients’ hands… What’s the process? (18:15 )

* Do pheno hunts ever fail? (28:28 )

* There’s more to cannabis than THC, will the education ever catch up? (30:16 )

* The importance of gathering research (33:02 )

* Canadian market vs Australian market (38:05 )

* Buying weed from questionable sources (39:57 )

* The price of cannabis around the world (43:20 )

* Where is the global cannabis market going? (45:33 )

* Supporting Australian-grown cannabis first (46:27 )

* What’s next for Medcan? (50:16 )

* Exciting times ahead for the local industry (53:50 )

* Stigma, politics and legalisation (55:17 )

* Life is better with a little bit of cannabis (58:37 )

* Our reflections on swapping out pharmaceutical pills for cannabis (59:08 )

* Cannabis a first option, not a last option (62:23 )

* Gareth’s call to action (64:19 )

Show Notes:

Where to Find Gareth Ball:

* Gareth on LinkedIn

* Medcan Australia LinkedIn

* Medcan Australia Website

* Email Gareth@medcanaustralia.com.au

Where to find Christina Mc Mullan:

* @AusCannaReviews on SubStack

* @AusCannaReviews on Instagram

* @AusCannaReviews on Twitter/X

* Email AusCannaReviews@gmail.com

* Buy Me A Coffee/AusCannaPodcast

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit auscannareviews.substack.com