Don ’ t forget where you came from but never lose sight of where you ’ re going .”
from the EDITOR
TG Toby Gorman
I
’ ve always been fond of the saying “ Don ’ t forget where you came from but never lose sight of where you ’ re going .” It ’ s a reminder to be thankful for the people and communities that were supportive for a person or business as it worked to build and succeed , and to remember them when success is achieved . More than ever , I think this is applicable to the cannabis industry today . Just a few years ago , cannabis advocates , people who put themselves on the line to push something they believed in , did so at their own peril . With legalization , of course , comes Big Cannabis , right alongside Big Alcohol , Big Tobacco , and even Big Pharma . It ’ s unavoidable . Because of regulatory complexities and because fixed costs of doing business are so high , in just 10 years cannabis had become a playground for massive companies with vast sums of money . I think of the recent Tilray-Aphria merger , I think of Constellation ’ s investment in Canopy . Really , on any given day hundreds of millions of dollars are thrown around in mergers and acquisitions in the cannabis industry .
It ’ s stunning , and it ’ s only going to get bigger . I sometimes think of those small mom-and-pop businesses the staff here at MY got to know so well at our trade shows . They were our advertisers , but they were also friends , people we ’ d have dinners with , go for drinks with after a show , be able to pick up the phone and call directly and be able to visualize them in their store because we ’ d been there . Many of these people were faced with a choice at some point : try to compete against the mega companies or sell the business they poured their heart and souls into for such a long time . Today , it ’ s corporations , marketing agencies , and website metrics that fill our days . Which is fine , that ’ s the way any industry operates today , and it means growth , more jobs , and more prosperity . But it ’ s nice to know that with every home grower , those who grow because they love it , a little bit of the old days in the Emerald Triangle or British Columbia or wherever the passion existed lives on , because it ’ s important for an industry to remember where it came from if it ’ s to appreciate where it ’ s going .
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