Canadian CANNAINVESTOR Magazine June / July 2018 | Page 266

Right now I’m a problem solver, armed with a camera, disguised as a writer. School taught me that the mark of a great photographer is in their ability to solve problems on the spot. The cannabis industry has a big problem that needs solving right now: education. The lack of content and engagement it will take to re-educate the masses and de-stigmatise the plant is hard to estimate, but there will be a great demand as transition out of prohibition continues. This was part of the reason I dropped everything in January to form Ethical Image, a cannabis content creation agency. The other big reason was working philanthropically, for instance Ethical Image has planted 100 trees in honour of Louis Kyron. Thank you for the advice you’ve shared, and the four day media pass that enabled my first cannabis expo experience, recapped below.

“The eyes of the world are on us.” - Eric Coston, to set the tone for

State of the Cannabis nation, the first panel of the Lift Cannabis Business Conference. And it’s true, Canada is the first G7 country to legalize adult use cannabis, and is setting precedent for the rest of the world to follow. Not everyone has to like it, but the reality is that reefer madness doesn’t work anymore and the tide is shifting. Lift 2018 happened to fall just weeks before the 3rd vote on bill C-45, and royal assent if all goes accordingly to plan. While Thursday was very information dense, there were a couple common refrains that I picked up on:

Education, Marketing,

and compliance.

Risk management is the third most important

thing your organization needs.

It’s obvious the First things you need are great products or services, and revenues from them. Your Second need is to manage your costs related to growing, producing, selling, etc.

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