Cannabis News: More Coronavirus Reactions, Hemp Seed and Banking News (Opinion)
May 7, 2020
The coronavirus crisis has changed legal cannabis in fundamental ways that have yet to fully manifest.
One head-scratcher that seems to remain etched in stone is the industry’s long-standing status as basically a cash business.
And now, with several legislative initiatives catapulting to the head of the Congressional priority line (additional coronavirus stimulus packages), it seems like 2020 will be another year of the same for plant-touching entities.
I hope, dear reader, that the irony of this situation — where legal cannabis has been overwhelmingly deemed essential to the day-to-day function of this country — is not lost on you. It certainly isn’t lost on industry participants tired of being treated like second-class businesses.
“It truly is ironic — and ultimately hypercritical — that cannabis can be deemed essential and yet these businesses do not have the same financial avenues that almost every other industry does,” InfiniteCAL Co-founder/CEO Josh Swider says. “Beyond that, many people are now dependent on the legal cannabis supply chain to get medicinal products. The fact is the legal cannabis industry is an important piece of our overall economy that cannot be forgotten.”
Swider, who along with fellow chemist and Co-founder David Marelius heads up the executive team at the San Diego, CA-based analytical cannabis testing lab, reached out to discuss what he saw as glaring inequities being forced upon legal cannabis business operators.
