“Once the barriers started coming up like the capital requirements and just the effort you’d have to put to make a successful cannabis company, the industry became more stale.
If you didn’t grow up wealthy or well-connected, they say, it is tougher to pitch largely white investors on your business.
Before cannabis entrepreneurs apply for a licence, they must have a facility.
“If you’re coming in and you’ve never been in a community that raised capital before …
“Sometimes it takes a bit longer to have Health Canada respond to them, and they’re not always willing to have teleconferences, if they’re not already licence holders …
She recently had a client who didn’t receive security clearance because he had — years ago — had his licence revoked and car impounded for speeding.