Cannabis in US is a ‘$100 billion opportunity,’ Tilray CEO Irwin Simon says
Legalizing marijuana at the federal level will be a $100 billion opportunity, according to Tilray CEO Irwin Simon
Cannabis reform advocate speaks out on marijuana legalization bill
Cannabis Freedom Alliance advocate Weldon Angelos joined "Kennedy" to discuss his testimony at a Senate hearing on cannabis reform after he was sentenced to 55 years in prison for selling marijuana.
Tilray CEO Irwin Simon believes the legalization of cannabis at the federal level will provide major business opportunities in the United States.
In a recent interview with Yahoo Finance Live, Simon predicted that the opportunity would be upward of $100 billion.
A mature marijuana plant flowers under artificial lights prior to harvest at Loving Kindness Farms in Los Angeles on May 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File / AP Images)
"If you look at cannabis today in the U.S., 93% of Americans want medical cannabis legalized and about 63%, 65% want adult use," he said. "Today it’s legal in about 33 states, plus D.C. So, it’s out there that … that majority of people want cannabis [to be available] legally."
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Simon stressed that the opportunities could be extended to cannabis-adjacent products like food, personal care items and drinks.
"What will happen once the U.S. legalizes, the big companies like Diageo, Brown-Forman, ABI, even I think the Nestles and the Unilevers will want to be into the cannabis business because they know Gen-Z, millennials, that's very much what they want," Simon said.
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Simon’s comments come after Senate leaders, led by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., last month introduced a bill that would end the federal prohibition of marijuana, allowing states to set their own laws without fear of reprisal from the federal government.