What’s the biggest challenge facing the cannabis industry right now, and how are you and/or your company addressing it?
The biggest challenge in my opinion is the ability for businesses to take home profit, under these regulations and restrictions they cannot survive. Paragon is helping by provided necessary payroll and HR services for very low rates – the kind you’d see outside of cannabis – and teaching operators how to look out for providers who charge a premium or ‘cannabis tax’ just for participating in the industry.
Where do you see the most exciting opportunity for growth and innovation in cannabis?
Cannabis is a medicine, not an inebriant like many try to make it out to be. I think there is a huge opportunity to educate consumers that THC percentage is not necessarily an indicator of quality, but just one aspect of the plant. If consumers understood the difference in both cannabinoids and terpenes, what they do, and how they can be applied, then we would see so many more people benefitting from the amazing power of the cannabis plant. Cannabis has the potential to be used in such a diverse way but is still often put into a bucket with alcohol and nicotine which is just disrespectful to this powerful plant. A grandma who doesn’t drink may see alcohol and cannabis as one in the same in terms of being a recreational substance and that is just a shame, because cannabis is so much more than that.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to someone looking to break into the cannabis industry?
Come with curiosity and be a student of the game. So many of us who have been fighting the good fight of destigmatization and legalization come from diverse backgrounds unique perspectives. From the 3rd generation legacy cultivator to the college graduate CPA, there’s so much knowledge that can be acquired from listening and learning from others. Not to mention every state has its own program. Stay humble, stay hungry, and stay a student of the industry.
What is the most important thing you have learned from your experiences in the cannabis industry?
We go so much further as individuals, as companies, and as an industry when we work together. This industry is small and birthed out of advocacy groups fighting for reform. The opposition is large and loves to see us divide and fight on another. If we’re going to see the reform we all imagined a decade or two ago, when it was more about what’s right and was less about who’s taking home the money, then we have to stay focused on our common goals and work together.
What do you want your legacy to be as it relates to the cannabis industry?
That I did what was right for the mission of cannabis reform, allowing for access to the plant and fighting the stigmas that have been placed on it and its users. That I never let greed or profits or my image get in the way of the bigger picture. If that is my legacy, then I’ll rest east when my journey comes to an end.
