This is Part I of the episode, where we invited Toxicologist Echo Rufer and Cannabis expert Joshua Hoffman to talk about the cannabis industry. Back in 2018 and 2019, we couldn’t have a conversation with clients without them asking about cannabis. But for the past two years, the new “hot baby” seems to be cryptocurrency. What happened? According to Josh, due to regulation, and the fact that the cannabis industry just went from illegal to partially legal, the market is extremely fractured and has been cut into thousands of small pieces. This fracture naturally makes investment dangerous and volatile. Echo agreed that not having standardized regulations is problematic. Josh pointed out that the federal reclassification of cannabis and more stable banking is crucial to moving forward. As a scientist, Echo stressed the importance of listening to science in order to make the right policies. Josh completely agreed: having more “Echos” in the cannabis industry is going to lead to a better consumer experience and safer business operations. In the next week, we are going to continue this topic, and talk about what other hurdles this industry is facing and what the future holds.
