So if it’s a common story, how is the Latin American path different?
1. Fertility of the land –A trek across Latin America may take you from the Amazonian rainforest to wet and dry grasslands and from lowlands to highlands. Step into the ecosystem of thick vegetation, rich biodiversity and an abundance of agricultural land. A majority of the region enjoys the tropics with low seasonal variation. Just think about rich, fertile land for cannabis cultivation and growing outdoors with multiple harvests a year. As the hearts of politicians warm up to the idea of a regulated cannabis market across Latin America, the warm climate holds the hearts of cultivators and investors alike.
2. Vastness of opportunity – With an ideal climate to grow cannabis, a cash crop, it makes sense to explore how the financial capital meets the natural capital too. Latin America has been economically attractive due to the relative cost of production, infrastructure, and labor.
While foreign companies have benefited from exchange rates, the discussion of equity must start from within. Colombia has explicitly created economic opportunities for local farmers, both small to medium sized.
Mexico has prioritized local companies for over-the-counter cannabis products; four out of seven approved companies are Mexican.
There are also particular provisions in the Jamaican regulations that respect the Rastafaris right to use cannabis as a sacramental rite.
The opportunity ahead of the Latin American cannabis market is as vast as the culture is vibrant.
3, Vibrancy of the culture – Latin America pours out colors of culture from the music, food, art, architecture, and literature. Some of its vibrant light has been hidden behind a deeply contentious veil of the historic illegality of cannabis.
The plant has been used as a political tool, a cultural ritual, and an economic driver. It has been associated with a source of violence and profitability, injustice and criminality, and escape and spirituality.
Picture
As the perspective of supporting the war on drugs shifts to a perception welcoming amnesty and growth, the local language is loudly changing the pace of reform. Now it’s being heard across the globe. This transformative shift is ongoing and the seeds once planted are blossoming.
The Latin American market is relatively nascent, but growth is rapid, the changes are frequent and the effects are international.
70