Recently, President Joe Biden announced a plan to pardon those convicted of simple cannabis possession, which left many wondering if this could be the first step towards full legalization or the federal declassification of cannabis. Though nothing official has been announced, there are many in the legal cannabis industry that wonder whether the U.S. will go the same route as Canada, who fully legalized in 2018.
Shimmy Posen, a Canadian attorney with over a decade of experience working with cannabis corporate finance, mergers, and acquisitions believes that this will eventually lead to the U.S. legalizing cannabis, much like Canada did in 2018. He said it is inevitable due to the global market and how much capital the cannabis industry can generate in international markets. “Being at the forefront of all this, my desk has become a trading floor for certain peripheral elements of these deals. I felt like a sports agent at times,” Posen said. “It got to be very complex, because there were lots of intricacies of how much growers could own, whether they would allow franchising or not and so much more that had to be ironed out. It was very knowledge-centric.”
Posen said he has worked with several Israeli and American companies that went public but is interested in countries where cannabis sales are legal. “Anywhere in the world really, where cannabis was touching capital markets, we were aware of it at my desk, and advising clients and helping them build businesses. Some of the more recent deals include the Sundial acquisition.”
Posen said that in the global marketplace of cannabis, Canada stands out due to its legal status. “What distinguishes Canada from the rest of the world is this government truly allowed cannabis into the capital markets to interact with the financial systems,” he said. “But, …
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Author: Alex Distefano / High Times
