MARIJUANA AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
Marijuana has become a staple in the world we live in today. Some say it has come to stay, others disagree. It had been given various names - from grass to choco to fish and the list keeps expanding. It popularity transcends musical studios to the boardroom.
Adam Neumann, CEO of WeWork, was said to have a penchant for marijuana. Also, Elon Musk, the Tesla supremo was seen to be smoking pod live on a radio show. It is shocking how marijuana has found its way to the boardroom. I recently did an investigation into the tech sector and I noticed a trend of use of marijuana amongst founders and CEOs. I was shocked to discover some of them were heavily on marijuana.
I also press further to ask how does this affect judgement. At first there is a need to understand its active ingredient.
The main psychoactive part of cannabis is tetrahydrocannabinol, one of the 483 known compounds in the plant, including at least 65 other cannabinoids.
Another argument is that of the disposition of marijuana in the boardrooms and if it bodes well for productivity and general company growth. I can bet the jury is out on that but the ubiquity of its use is a case for scrutiny.
On the flip side it has made great incursion into the business space. Marijuana companies like
Ontario-based Auxly Cannabis, which recently changed its name from Cannabis Wheaton Income Corp., is the world’s tenth biggest marijuana company with a market capitalization of $466.11 million and other companies doing big numbers out of marijuana.
Recently, Canopy investors was valued over 14billion dollars by just being in the marijuana business alone.
The medical market is now agog with the prospect of marijuana as a silver bullet to all sorts of pain, the increasing acceptance of medical marijuana is another insightful study. It is also rife the state of California would be collecting close to one billion dollars in marijuana taxes soon. With all of this, it shows that marijuana has found its way and it has evolved from the reason for boardroom shenanigans to a money spinner.
As a patriot I am forced to ask: is there a possibility for the government to tap into this rich market by legalizing the marijuana ecosystem and making money out of it? Can we also track the various marijuana farms and bring them into a regulated ecosystem? Countries like Afghanistan have used their poppy to economic benefits, so our tobacco and marijuana could make that same effect on the Nigerian economy. Nigeria could be a net exporter of medical marijuana and become the hub in Africa. We can also use the proceeds to set up rehabilitation centers to help those abusing marijuana. I am sure a lot of people would say this would cause proliferation of abuse of marijuana but I say in a regulated system it would reduce the use of marijuana. Switzerland has more guns per capital that America yet least gun violence in the world. It is a case of proper regulation.
Rufai Oseni, rufaioseni@gmail.com