Attorney Shimmy Posen discusses legalization, the global marketplace

Recently, President Joe Biden announced a plan to pardon those convicted of simple cannabis possession, leading many to wonder if this could be the first step toward full legalization or federal declassification of cannabis. While nothing official has been announced, many in the legal cannabis industry are wondering if the US will follow the same path as Canada, which became fully legal in 2018.

Shimmy Posen, a Canadian attorney with over a decade of experience working with cannabis corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, believes this will eventually lead to the US legalizing cannabis, much like Canada did in 2018. He said that it was inevitable due to the situation in the global market and how much capital the cannabis industry is able to generate in the international markets. “Being at the forefront of all of this, my desk has become a trading space for certain peripheral elements of this business. I felt like a sports agent at times,” Posen said. “It got very complex because there were a lot of nuances about how much breeders could own, whether or not they would allow franchising and so much more that needed to be sorted out. It was very knowledge centered.”

Posen said he has worked with several Israeli and American companies that have gone public, but is interested in countries where selling cannabis is legal. “Actually everywhere around the world where cannabis has touched the capital markets, we at my desk have been aware, advising clients and helping them build businesses. Some of the more recent deals include the Sundial acquisition.”

Poznan said Canada stands out in the global cannabis market because of its legal status. “What sets Canada apart from the rest of the world is that this government has really allowed cannabis into the capital markets to interact with the financial systems,” he said. “But in countries like the US, they still have problems with cannabis in banking systems because of federal legality. We don’t have this problem in Canada since illegality was eliminated.”

Posen said he believes Canada is a world leader but concedes the system is not perfect and has its flaws that need to be addressed. “One thing Canada got wrong is that they put THC and CBD under one roof,” Posen said. “Many people have trouble getting into Canada on flights carrying CBD products, especially from the US, because they think it’s not a problem. But CBD is a controlled substance in Canada; You cannot buy it over the counter at a gas station or pharmacies, only from licensed dealers as it is regulated and controlled. People fly in and get in trouble quite often because they don’t know it.”

Another problem Canada has faced, according to Posen, is that cannabis only blooms for about a year after legalization in 2018 [was] may be sold.” It took about a year before other products like vapes, concentrates, and edibles were legally available, so there was a market for all of these products on the ‘black market,'” Posen said. Black market’; I refer to it as the legacy market. Now consumers can buy all of these products from the legitimate retail outlets. But it was a big mess. Canada certainly took a bullet from the rest of the world to see how this was for outright legal weed might work. But a lot of the legacy market underground stores are starting to transition into the legal markets because that’s the future. Nobody goes out to buy moonshine; they buy well-known brands of liquor. Same [idea] with hemp. It just takes time, it’s a process.”

Poznan said he believes the cannabis sector will continue to grow exponentially and even skyrocket in the global financial market. “The projectiles are clear. The industry is such a giant today and will continue to grow. It’s already global without full legalization by countries like Germany and the US, so you can imagine what will happen when those countries fully legalize legal cannabis,” he said. “A leading country in medical cannabis in particular is Israel, which has truly established the industry standard for medical cannabis.”

Posen said he’s keeping an eye on countries like Mexico, Thailand, Germany and the US, among others, but thinks most countries will eventually allow legal, regulated cannabis sales.

He thinks Biden’s recent announcement on cannabis convictions is a good first step. “My guess is that eventually the federal illegality will be eliminated or the US will just let the states do what they want, much like what happened during Prohibition – just let the local jurisdictions do what they want to do.”

Though Posen is reluctant to give a date or timeline, he said he believes legalization in the US is imminent. Also, many other countries will follow immediately and legalize it as well, because many countries have it illegal just because of the US,” Posen said. “People want individuals to make their own decisions, but at the same time don’t encourage that for children. It’s about freedom, but about responsible handling. The sky is the limit.”

For more information or to contact Mr. Posen, please visit the Garfinkle Biderman page.