the GLOBAL issue
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THE GLOBAL COMMODITY
hat will it take for Cannabis to become a global commodity, and what does success imply for the current and future marketplaces that are selling Cannabis in the U.S. and beyond? I zoomed with Claudia Della Mora, the co-founder and managing partner at Black Legend Capital – an investment and advisory firm based out of Los Angeles and an expert in international Cannabis legalization – to explore what the future holds for the plant, the industry, and our ability to consume Cannabis internationally.
CANNABIS AS A COMMODITY Traditionally, a commodity is the raw material that makes up finished products like petroleum, sugar or rice that can be traded internationally in large quantities with little restrictions, with pricing based on supply and demand as prices fluctuate. Commodity potential within the Cannabis industry includes THC flower, hemp biomass, THC/CBD distillates or isolates, and crude oil. While these have potential as bulk commodities and to one day be traded on the exchanges, there are three essential pieces to the puzzle that must be made to fit before Cannabis products can be sold as commodities globally. While most U.S. companies see the future of Cannabis as a commodity coming from federal legalization, the real barrier to global trade is the United Nations Drug Treaty. “Cannabis needs to get to a point of international legalization to have a commodity status, and that will require a type of standardization and minimum requirements for products to be traded and sold,” said Claudia Della Mora. “Although everyone looks at the U.S. as the biggest market, it’s only the biggest developed market, but it’s not going to be the biggest manufacturing market. I do believe when everything is federally approved, Cannabis will be cultivated in low labor cost countries like China, Mexico, Columbia – so those countries will be very important while people buy from them.”
JUN. 2021
Claudia Della Mora, Black Legend Capital co-founder and managing partner.
CANNABIS
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