CECF podcast was joined by David Wenger, an experienced New York-based lawyer and investor. David is working on cannabis legislation in the US and was one of the early investors into the Canadian and US cannabis markets. His white paper “The Green Regulatory Arbitrage: A Case for Investing in US Multi-State Vertically-Integrated Cannabis Companies” has been widely read all over the world.

In this episode, David shared his expert opinion on current and future developments approaching the cannabis markets. Combining the legal and investor perspective, he shined a rational light on the so-called global green rush. We discussed:

- The market landscape: will there be a mass consolidation or a diverse ecosystem of many different players?
- The lack of capital: how will controversy around different types of investors, or the inability for cannabis companies to open bank accounts, be resolved?
- Product classification: is cannabis a pharmaceutical product, a drug, or food? How will these definitions influence the legal and compliance aspects of the industry?
- Market valuations: what approaches should an investor consider before investing in a company?
- Private vs market capital: what is currently better for companies?
- Cannabis vs alcohol: is it fair to assume that cannabis consumption will one day overtake alcohol?

Our guest David Wenger has worked as an attorney in New York office of DLA Piper for more than a decade. He first invested in cannabis in 2016 in Canada, and then engaged in the US cannabis market from 2017. David is a member of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives cannabis working groups, where he focuses on drafting and advancing federal cannabis legislation. He is the author of a widely read white paper titled: “The Green Regulatory Arbitrage: A Case for Investing in US Multi-State Vertically-Integrated Cannabis Companies.”