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The Cannabis Industry has grown dramatically in recent years in response to expanding legalization.   Currently there are 37 states and Washington, D.C., who allow medical-use marijuana, and 18 states and D.C. allowing adult recreational use.  With many states jumping on board the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act in April  which is a proposed act to remove cannabis as a “scheduled” drug under the Controlled Substances Act.  Harry Brelsford of The CannaTech Group sits down with Luis Alvarez of Alvarez Technology Group to discuss the changes in the Cannabis industry and the knowledge he has gained.

 

Video Transcription

 

Harry Brelsford 

Hey, welcome back to the ken attack. Podcast. What am I doing? I’m back with Luis.

 

Luis Alvarez 

How are you my friend?

 

Harry Brelsford 

Good, good. So let’s talk about our conference that’s coming up the CannaTech Expo, June 22 through 24 in Fort Lauderdale. You’re one of our esteemed speakers and panelists, what what do you see that show being about?

 

Luis Alvarez 

Yeah, I’m excited because there’s a lot of knowledge that we’ve acquired in the last six, seven years of working with the cannabis industry. And there’s a lot to share. You know, a lot of the regulations are changing a lot of the, the, you know, the landscape, in and of itself is starting to shift in a more positive way. I was just mentioning to you before we got started that I’d read an article this morning that the Senate, which has been usually where, you know, all good bills go to die, and Congress, they’re talking about taking some action and legalization of cannabis, because so many states now think it’s upwards of 38 or 39, states have legalized some form of cannabis, whether it’s medical, or both medical and recreational. So from a, from a policy perspective, you’re if you’re against it, and you’re swimming, you know, you’re swimming upstream and only frustrating your constituents back home. So I think a lot of that will will be part of the conversation that we’re going to have about, you know, what does it take to be in this industry? What are the, the not just the technical requirements, but really what, you know, how do you get started? Or if you want to move into an expand your cannabusiness? You know, part of your business, like, what, what does that look like? Yeah,

 

Harry Brelsford 

yeah, no, I agree. You know, the purpose of this expo that we’re, we’re putting on us, it really goes back and I, you know, I’m, I’m kind of a broken record, but it’s the early early Small Business Server days. Right. And, and so there’s more questions than answers. And, and even more than you remember, two years ago, in the month of May, we did an online cannabis technology event, because of the pandemic, we had to capsule, Denver. And you know, we were back couple years later, we’re back and Luis, I’d say there’s even more questions. Now back then I think we had 14 or 15, adult use states, to your point through a medical and it’s up to 3738 entities clipping the Washington, DC area.

 

Luis Alvarez 

And there’s been so much consolidation in the industry that they’re now, you know, players that operate in multiple states, even though they have to do it independently because of the federal regulations. But I think if you do get some action on banking, in particular, and all of a sudden you don’t have the stigma, and you don’t have to bend over backwards to try to to hide your cash. If you’re a cannabis organization or a cannabis operator. It’s gonna just, you know, open the floodgates, I think there’ll be more people involved and more opportunities than ever. Yeah,

 

Harry Brelsford 

yeah. And we’ll end on this I think, folks who are listening, you need to really listen to Louise here, because we’re headed into today. As a matter of fact, speaking of the current timeframe, the Fed is looking at a half point, interest rate rise and the federal level of rates. So, you know, we’re arguably headed into a higher interest rate environment, potentially stagflation in a recession. And the cannabis vertical is the shining star, right. This is the one thing that that will grow literally, during the recession.

 

Luis Alvarez 

Yep. Just like a grew during the pandemic. I mean, yeah, we people, I think, are going to be more open to it than and I’m talking about consumers, that that’s really has been the driving engine in the cannabis growth in California for sure. But even neighboring states like Washington, and Nevada, it’s if you go if you go to Vegas, there there are cannabis bars all over the place. And there are people coming from all over the country and being exposed to that and then they go home where they can’t get it. And they’re they’re frustrated. So as soon as they have the ability to to really Do not have any limitations on cannabis any more than you do with any other recreational, alcohol or, or cigarettes, then it’s going to be a terrific for this industry. But even if that doesn’t come to pass right away, there’s still a lot of momentum. Still a lot of things going on and they’re not, you know, my experience is that they’re just not enough MSPs or IT service providers that understand the industry well enough to serve them. So there’s a huge opportunity if you want to specialize and and really dig into it. Yep.

 

Harry Brelsford 

All right, well, hey, I’ll end on this. What what industry shows might we see you out? Are you doing the channel pro events this year or ASCII or what’s going on?

 

Luis Alvarez 

Yeah, I’m doing channel pro in Dallas, in I think it’s the sixth through the eighth of June. And then I’m going to be going to the channel company, the exchange show in August. I think that’s in Denver. And there’s a couple of other channel pro ones that they’ve asked me to, to speak at, and I’m still kind of trying to plug those into my calendar. But it’s fun getting back out there. You know, being back out on the road and interacting with people and it just you You don’t realize how much you miss it until it’s gone. And then you get it back.

Harry Brelsford 

And we’ll end on that country western song. Thanks.

Luis Alvarez 

You’re welcome, my friend. Take care. All right.