On Monday 22nd, the Cannabis Business Summit has officially kicked off. “The goal of this convention is to bring value to the cannabis industry and to offer professional a place where to gather and network,” says Morgan Fox with NCIA, the organizer of the event.
Morgan Fox, media relation director with NCIA
“With NCIA, we want to address the most pressing challenges of this thriving sector, especially when it comes to influencing policy change.” According to him, the profits of the convention will be used to policy lobbying, thus pushing policymakers to make the cannabis industry as open as possible. “One of the things that need to addressed is indeed the safe banking act,” he says. “It is of utmost importance to allow banks to support this industry, and especially helping all those groups that were mostly affected by prohibition and now have a harder time to join this exciting sector.” He further explains that inclusivity and diversity are two characteristics of the cannabis industry, which, unlike other businesses, have a great opportunity to make these, some of its key qualities.
A day for expanding one's knowledge
Therefore, NCIA has dedicated the first day to seminars, workshops, and tours. The CannaVest workshop is indeed focused on the relationship between the cannabis industry and investments. Morgan points out that NCIA wanted to bridge the gap between these two, and thus provided a platform to describe to these two worlds how to navigate this ‘young’ waters. A panel of different speakers tackled different topics, from the CBD market, the changing policies, to provide an overview of the global market.
In another hall, another panel of regulations and policies experts discussed the relationship between these and the hemp industry after the approval of the Farm Bill in 2018. The hemp and the cannabis industry are two separated entities, but both of them have a lot to learn from each other: from best cultivation practices to compliancy.
Compliancy was the main topic of another workshop sponsored by the International Cannabis Bar Association, where speakers discussed how to get permits for cultivation facilities, and how to handle environmental issues, such as water consumption. This latter is a major issue in some areas of the country, like California, where water is an extremely important resource.
The other seminar of the day was focused on how to start a successful cannabis business. The speakers mostly tackled topics such as employees, insurance, and delegation. Since the cannabis industry is still in the early stages, there are still some uncertainties when it comes to job security, especially on a federal level.
Visiting a grow room
Just a quick lunch, and then off we go to visit the Purple Lotus dispensary, in San Jose. The place has very friendly employees who did not hesitate to show the visitors the growing room, where the company grows the cannabis that will be sold in the shop, later on.
This is it for the first day! Tomorrow, the exhibition will start, and many more people are expected to come and see the latest developments in this exciting sector. Also, Bruce Linton, ex Canopy Growth CEO, will be there in the morning, and he will discuss the main issues and challenges of today's cannabis industry. Stay tuned for our coverage of the second day of the Cannabis Business Summit, and then for our photo reportage on Friday.