Succeeding in the cannabis industry comes with its own unique set of challenges.  Navigating the mine field of ever-changing regulations, lack of access to traditional financing and banking, an underdeveloped and fragmented supply chain, an overburdensome tax code, and all of the many challenges that come with running a startup, we in the industry sometimes lose sight of what is really at stake.  In our activism we tend to put all of our focus on the budding recreational market and on the positive social impact that the recreational market will have on our society.  However, as regulations continue to evolve, there will be a wider acceptance of cannabis, and this, coupled with new discoveries, will lead to greater demand for cannabis and hemp products.

If we consider the advancements that will happen over the next 10-20 years in the pharmaceutical industry alone, no one will argue with the statement: cannabis will cure diseases and save lives.  It’s important that we do not allow large multi-national pharmaceutical corporations to claim ownership of molecules that have been on Earth for thousands, maybe even millions of years.  From cannabis, construction materials, plastics, beauty and makeup products, clothing, biofuel, and health food are all industries that will be revolutionized by this plant.

The talking points, which we’ve all heard before are: job creation, elimination of the elicit or black market, tax revenue to state and local municipalities, lowering the social impact of more harmful intoxicants such as alcohol and tobacco, the end of the industrial prison complex, and the end of senselessly incarcerating millions of non-violent Americans.  As positive and amazing as these points are, we’re still only scratching the surface of the profound and immeasurable impact cannabis will have on our society.

It isn’t until we start acknowledging in ourselves that we’re not just here to make money and institute liberty and freedom, we are actually here to save humanity.   If we take a global look at what mankind is doing; the way we’re treating our environment and the way we’re killing each other, we begin to realize that this way of life is not sustainable.  The cannabis revolution is happening here and now, at this pivotal point in mankind’s history, because we absolutely need it to.

The next time you or your company gets turned down by a bank or you deal with a close-minded bureaucrat who would rather go back to the way things used to be, remind them of what you’re doing, what you stand for, and what this movement is all about.