I started my last post on the marijuana business with a confession that I don’t know very much about cannabis (I’m getting there). But it turns out not knowing about marijuana isn’t necessarily a disadvantage covering this story.
Let me explain.
The International Cannabis Association’s (ICA) New York conference was meant to focus on the business of cannabis – the regulatory restrictions, networking, trends, and so on. There was nary a bong in site. It turns out, the conference was aimed at people like me – who might not know about the industry but who recognize its potential as a business.
As ICA’s president Dan Humiston explained, “About a year ago… I was interested in getting into the cannabis industry but I don’t smoke marijuana,” he said. Humiston was looking at the field as a businessman. “I tried to find some research and go online… I went to a couple conferences and seminars and they weren’t really geared for me. They were geared for people already in the industry.”
That’s because the marijuana industry – for better or worse – is largely closed off. Multiple people at the conference and along the way have taken time to explain to me what a tight-knit, hard-to-crack industry medical marijuana is. It’s not surprising, given that the product is still illegal under federal law, that many Americans see it only as a "fringe," if not criminal, enterprise despite the growth of the medical marijuana industry.
“There’s an opportunity here for business people to be introduced… to people that are in the Cannabis industry,” added Humiston. “There are so many people who are curious about that industry but don’t know where to get that information.”
That’s why ICA started hosting conferences. The New York event was the group’s second; the first was in Las Vegas. ICA, recognizing that they’re newer to the industry, partnered with many outside experts and guest speakers. Attendees ranged from a state senator and legislative aides to a company out of California specializing in edible marijuana products.
Prior to the conference’s kickoff, ICA hosted a group called the Cannabis Integrity Authority – the other CIA. CIA was testing out a pilot program for a cannabis industry certification. Because the marijuana industry is so closed-off, it can be difficult for people interested in the pot business to learn basic information – like different strains of cannabis or correct starting doses for patients wanting to use medical marijuana. Their certification is meant to teach “pot 101” or all the questions you were afraid to ask for fear of sounding ignorant. (Think indica vs. sativa or whether it’s a good idea to keep records – click here for a sample quiz from their course.) After all – if you want to convince someone to give you a distribution license, it’s going to help to know that any strain with “haze” in its name is a sativa.