Cannabis business expert Deepak Anand provides an update on his work with cannabis social justice agencies as well as his take on stories shaping the global cannabis industry. Anand works with Norml Canada, an organization working on amnesty for Canadians who have been unfairly charged with cannabis-related offenses as well as CFAMM, a group looking to ensure medical cannabis patients have fair access and taxation. Anand observes that the excitement regarding the health benefits of CBD oil has led to regulatory problems, especially in Europe. However, the US is moving toward a regulated CBD industry and the US FDA is trying to regulate CBD products. In terms of European expansion, Anand believes Canadian LPs have a huge advantage when compared with MSOs. The European market requires EU GMP certification and US MSOs cannot earn this certification without federal legalization. However, Anand cautions that other countries such as Israel, which recently allowed cannabis exports, are primed to dominant the European space.
Transcript:
Benjamin A. Smith: Welcome back, everybody. On the line joining us is the one and only Deepak Anand. Welcome, Deepak.
Deepak Anand: Thanks for having me.
Benjamin A. Smith: Great. This is the first time we’ve spoken, so the pleasure’s all mine. Now, I wanted to ask you, getting right into it, how are things at your new location at NORML? Do you like working on the policy side of the equation a little bit more than your last gig, or how is that working out for you?
Deepak Anand: Yeah, absolutely, and I’ve always been involved in the policy side, you know, for many, many years. You know, I’ve assisted both Federal as well as provincial governments on cannabis policy, and the role at NORML is just further expanding that anyways.
I mean, one of the biggest things that we’re, you know, sort of moving forward on NORML is the whole amnesty piece, because quite frankly, you know, we’ve gone forward with legalization and, you know, we’ve unrolled a number of things in various provinces. But one of the big issues that still is unresolved is Canadians still continue to be charged unfairly for cannabis-related offenses, and more importantly, there’s a number of Canadians that are sort of, you know, charged historically for minor possession. And you know, one of the things at NORML we’re trying to do is, sort of, you know, fight or lobby for that.
So one of the things that we’re looking to actively sort of lobby for is to ensure that Canadians that have been unfairly charged for cannabis-related offenses are granted amnesty in some end. And you know, there’s that issue that sort of is living, because a number of people, to this day, can’t apply for licenses, they can’t travel to the US – I mean, it’s a serious issue.
Benjamin A. Smith: Okay. Can you tell me what is the motivation or the backers behind the criminality of cannabis infractions, if you want to call it? Is it just sort of a public service that people are trying to get, you know, people not charged under cannabis laws or predatory cannabis laws? Or is there a real backer behind it? What is the motivati