The newsroom

Reporters, editors, reviewers.

Every CannIntel byline links to the reporter who wrote it. Every medical story is reviewed by a licensed clinician before publication. Here's who we are.

MV
Marcus Vela
Editor-in-Chief
news · business · laws

Marcus has covered cannabis policy and markets for nine years, previously reporting from Washington for a national trade publication. He oversees CannIntel's editorial standards and original reporting.

DL
Dr. Lena Whitfield, PharmD
Medical Editor
medical · news

Lena reviews every medical and research article on CannIntel. She is a licensed pharmacist with a research focus on cannabinoid pharmacokinetics and drug interactions.

RO
Rio Okafor
Senior Growing Correspondent
grow · strains

Rio has run commercial cannabis cultivation operations across three states and now reports on growing science, genetics, and emerging plant pathologies — including hop latent viroid.

HA
Harper Ash
Strains & Culture Reporter
strains · culture · reviews

Harper covers new breeder releases, cup winners, and the genetics moving the legacy market. Her strain reviews involve verified terpene panels and side-by-side grow logs.

TG
Tomas Greer
State Policy Reporter
laws · news

Tomas tracks every state legalization bill, ballot measure, and licensing round. He maintains the CannIntel legalization tracker.

KM
Kira Mantel
Markets & Business Reporter
business · news

Kira covers the publicly-traded cannabis sector, MSO earnings, M&A activity, and wholesale pricing trends. Previously a junior equity analyst on a cannabis-focused fund.

YA
Yusuf Akande
Capital Markets Reporter
business · news

Yusuf covers cannabis SPACs, debt restructurings, and the public-market arbitrage between U.S. MSOs and Canadian licensed producers. He reads every 10-K and 8-K so you don't have to.

PS
Priya Subramanian
Tax & Compliance Reporter
business · laws

Priya breaks down IRC §280E exposure, state-by-state excise calculations, and the cash-flow mechanics that decide which cannabis operators survive compression.

NE
Naomi Eshleman
Federal Policy Reporter
news · laws

Naomi is CannIntel's Washington beat reporter. She tracks every DEA rulemaking, FDA cannabinoid action, and Congressional bill move from first procedural filing to final vote.

DV
Dario Velasco
Senior Markets Editor
business · news

Dario edits CannIntel's markets desk and writes the weekly MSO scorecard. He spent seven years on the buy side covering consumer-discretionary and cannabis names.

AK
Anna Kovacs
Strains Reporter
strains · grow

Anna covers new genetic releases, autoflower advances, and the breeder programs supplying the next decade of cultivars. She maintains the CannIntel strain database.

DJ
Dr. James Okonkwo, MD
Senior Medical Reviewer
medical

James reviews CannIntel's pain and neurology coverage. He is a board-certified pain medicine physician with a clinical interest in cannabinoid-based therapies for chronic neuropathic pain.

MC
Mei Chen
Cannabis Tech Reporter
business · reviews

Mei covers cannabis e-commerce platforms, dispensary POS systems, seed-to-sale tracking, and the data infrastructure powering the legal market.

FR
Felix Rodríguez
Cultivation Reporter
grow · strains

Felix covers outdoor and greenhouse cultivation across the Emerald Triangle and the Mediterranean-climate U.S. growing regions. He grew commercially in Humboldt County for eight years.

SB
Sloane Beaumont
Reviews Editor
reviews · grow

Sloane oversees CannIntel's product reviews — grow lights, nutrients, rosin presses, vaporizers. Every review is bench-tested against published criteria with disclosed methodology.

NA
Niko Adamou
Hemp & THCA Reporter
laws · news

Niko covers the hemp-derived cannabinoid market: THCA flower, delta-8, HHC, and the state-by-state regulatory war over the 2018 Farm Bill loophole.

DS
Dr. Sarah Lindstrom, PharmD
Cannabinoid Pharmacology Reviewer
medical

Sarah reviews CannIntel's pharmacology coverage and clinical-evidence articles. Her published research focuses on CBD-drug interactions and cytochrome P450 enzyme inhibition.

KM
Kojo Mensah
International Markets Correspondent
news · business

Kojo covers cannabis policy and commerce outside the U.S. — Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Canada, Thailand. He reads four languages and tracks EU-GMP export flows weekly.

AH
Aaliyah Hassan
Culture & Tourism Reporter
culture · strains

Aaliyah covers cannabis hospitality, consumption lounges, cup events, and the legacy operators bridging into the legal market.

CB
Cole Brennan
Senior Cultivation Editor
grow · reviews

Cole edits CannIntel's growing desk. His coverage focuses on indoor lighting science, environmental control, and the engineering choices that separate professional rooms from hobbyist tents.

DR
Dr. Rosa Vargas, ND
Patient Access Reporter
medical · culture

Rosa covers medical-cannabis patient access, state program enrollment, and the equity gaps in legacy medical markets. She practiced as a naturopathic physician in Oregon for six years before moving to journalism.

EW
Ethan Walsh
Investigations Editor
news · business · laws

Ethan leads CannIntel's investigations desk — licensing fraud, regulatory capture, MSO governance failures, and bankruptcies. He files FOIA requests for breakfast.

IF
Isabela Fontes
Latin America Correspondent
news · business

Isabela covers cannabis policy and commerce across Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay, and Brazil — the source markets for the next decade of global cultivation.