Cannabis has always been a global plant, but today it has become a truly global industry. After spending the last year speaking at and helping produce events across Europe, Asia, and North America, I can say without hesitation that MJBizCon 2025 will be the most international MJBizCon in history.
That observation aligns with what MJBizCon leadership is seeing: Early registration data shows increased attendance from countries like China, France, Costa Rica, Portugal, Vietnam, Greece, and Israel, an MJBiz executive shared with me for this column—a telling snapshot of where the global conversation is heading.
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And those conversations taking shape in Las Vegas this December are cross-hemisphere, cross-regulatory, and cross-industry.
The shift didn’t happen slowly. It hit almost all at once.
Late last year, during conversations with my closest mentors, I shared a conviction I couldn’t shake: The time had come for Grasslands, and for me personally, to invest deeply in the emerging international markets.
The answer from my international peers and mentors was unanimous: Go now. Europe was heating up. Asia was getting serious. Latin America was stabilizing and scaling. Africa was beginning to organize. If I wanted to understand where cannabis was headed next, I had to get on a plane.
And so I did.
They were right. In 2025, the acceleration became impossible to ignore.
Germany’s adult-use market is expanding at breakneck speed. France is rolling out a fully insured medical program in early 2026. The Czech Republic will shift into full adult use in 2026. Slovenia is standing up one of Europe’s most progressive medical systems—including resin, or hash. Thailand is maturing quickly after realigning its market from recreational back to medical. And meaningful forward motion is happening across the Netherlands, Brazil, Colombia, Australia, New Zealand, and beyond.
I could not have written that paragraph two years ago.
That’s why this year’s MJBizCon will feel different. It’s no longer a U.S.-centered marketplace with some international delegates. The gravitational pull has flipped. Operators from Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Africa are coming to Vegas not as observers, but as peers, partners, and competitors.
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And many North American-based businesses, my Clio-winning PR and marketing agency included, are leaning into that moment.
Over the past year, our team has been everywhere the global cannabis conversation is taking shape. I produced a Grasslands Supperclub networking dinner and spoke at ICBC Berlin in April. We spoke at Cannabis Europa in London in June, where we laid the foundation to host a Grasslands Nightcap at Cannabis Europa’s show in Paris coming up in February 2026. We hosted a 60-person Grasslands Nightcap during the Asia Hemp Expo in Bangkok last month. And a few days later, we curated a private Grasslands Supperclub during Cannafest in Prague—a room filled with executives shaping what’s coming next.
And all of those rooms now intersect in Las Vegas.
Grasslands Goes International—Literally
For the first time this year, The Grasslands Party on Dec. 3 during BizCon has an official theme: Grasslands Goes International. You’ll see flags hanging over the bar and patio. You’ll hear conversations in multiple languages and accents. And you’ll feel the shift as our community expands beyond North America.
But the centerpiece of our MJBizCon week—and the heart of this piece—is the Grasslands Supperclub, a curated gathering of 65 C-suite executives from across the global B2B supply chain on Dec. 2 in Vegas. We’re expecting representation from 15 to 20 countries, making it the most internationally diverse room Grasslands has ever convened.
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The panel we’ve curated for the Supperclub in Vegas, Markets That Matter Next: Global Cannabis Opportunities in 2026 and Beyond, brings together leaders actively shaping the next wave of expansion. I’ll be moderating a conversation featuring Mark Hsieh, a VP at U.S. vape behemoth Rove; Kohei Yamada, the founder and CEO of Kiseki Group, which is growing in their Bangkok cultivation facility using agricultural techniques from his native Japan, where he plans on launching that nation’s first medical cannabis company; Stuart Wilcox, former COO of Curaleaf and current board member for operators active in the UK and New Zealand; Italy’s Claudia Della Mora, a respected voice in Western Europe’s policy and industry evolution; and Clever Leaves CEO Gustavo Escobar, who is growing out of Colombia and Portugal and exporting all over.
The goal isn’t hype. It’s clarity, and the kind of clarity you only get when global operators sit at the same table and compare notes.
Three Global Picks for MJBizCon 2025
Below are three proof points that show how deeply global this year’s BizCon truly is.
1. The Grasslands Supperclub
A curated, private dinner and strategy forum on Dec. 2 for global executives across 15–20 countries, anchored by a forward-looking panel on 2026 markets. The event is already at capacity, and sponsorships are sold out. Learn more.
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2. GCNC C-Suite Connector
As proud members of the Global Cannabis Network Collective, we’ll join executives representing 25 countries for structured networking and collaboration on Dec. 3. Learn more.
3. ICBC × MJBizCon Global Exchange
A new partnership between the International Cannabis Business Conference, or ICBC—Europe’s leading B2B cannabis conference—and MJBizCon is creating a dedicated space on the show floor for international dealmaking and industry education. Learn more.
MJBizCon has always been an economic barometer for this industry. This year, it’s something more: a global checkpoint. A moment where operators from every hemisphere take stock of where we are, and where we’re going next.
If the last year taught us anything, it’s that cannabis is no longer becoming global. It already is. And we’ll see that future unfold in real time at BizCon 2025.
*This article was submitted by a guest contributor. The author is solely responsible for the content.