What’s the biggest challenge facing the cannabis industry right now, and how are you and/or your company addressing it?
Credibility and sustainability. The depth of fraud and contamination in the legal market is undermining one of the key promises of legalization, which weakens the trust of consumers and draws counter-productive reactions from legislatures. At the same time, cannabis is taxed and regulated far beyond any comparable good, which unnecessarily drives up costs for everyone except the illicit market, which leads to legal business behavior like lab fraud. We work to re-center patient and consumers and channel the millions of veterans who use cannabis as a medicine and harm reduction tool to advocate for solutions–like normalization–to these long-standing problems.
Where do you see the most exciting opportunity for growth and innovation in cannabis?
We are living in age of rapidly raising disability and chronic disease, with veterans at the forefront, and lack effective treatments for many illnesses. The sum of cannabinoids, flavonoids, terpenes and other compounds in the cannabis plant have already shown their promise in critical areas like pain control, but we’re just scratching the surface. Real investment and focused research could lead to a new generation of cannabis-based medicines at a time we desperately need them around the world.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to someone looking to break into the cannabis industry?
Cannabis is closer than ever to being legalized federally but until then there will be fundamental issues for workers like job security and compensation. For both owners and workers, the people I’ve seen stick out the constant attrition of layoffs, bad debt, and legal and illicit competition are usually motivated by the medical potential of the plant. Focusing on serving patients and consumers is a good North Star.
What is the most important thing you have learned from your experiences in the cannabis industry?
Patience. Cannabis advocacy, like veteran advocacy, takes years and decades to achieve change. I started organizing and lobbying nearly seven years ago, thinking, in 2018, we were no more than five years from federal legalization. Now, I’ve adjusted my timeline and try to flow with the political developments outside of my control (i.e. nearly all of them).
What do you want your legacy to be as it relates to the cannabis industry?
It’s far bigger than the industry, but I hope to have contributed in a meaningful to helping others and creating fair legal and regulatory frameworks that ensure access to safe, affordable cannabis for everyone.
Do you have a comment for Eric?
