Cannabis is now legal for over 100 million Americans medicinally and/or recreationally; however, many still view the industry through the lens of historical stigma.
Contrary to these misperceptions of what we believe to be an often-misunderstood industry, our experience investing across 65+ portfolio companies and engaging with thousands of cannabis consumers has opened our aperture and deepened our conviction.
Cannabis has already been demonstrated as potentially medicinally effective, especially in the management of chronic pain, PTSD, anxiety, and cancer treatment side effects. Cannabidiol , is the main ingredient in the child-seizure medication Epidiolex, which is the first FDA-approved medicine derived from an active ingredient from marijuana and has helped children with rare, severe forms of epilepsy.
Then in 2002, a study was published invalidating this presumption stating “marijuana has never been shown to have a gateway effect.” The CDC states that while more research is needed, the majority of cannabis users do not graduate to more harmful “harder substances.” Cannabis legalization has instead been linked to lower rates of opioid-related overdoses, death and harm.
A long-held belief is that cannabis use could result in increased levels of car crashes, but documented fact patterns appear to be the contrary in states that have legalized.
Despite best enforcement efforts, inexpensive, illegal cannabis is still widely available; the illicit cannabis market was estimated to be worth $66 billion in 2019.
It could be argued that cannabis is safer than some legal substances as more than 20,000 people die each year due to overdoses as no one has ever been reported to overdose from cannabis.
While the above reasons are indicators that the cannabis industry is effectuating positive change globally, we at EEC believe there is materially more potential from this space.
We are investing in a social equity platform through our portfolio company, which will allow minority owners access to capital.