FORA.tv Studios presents an original video series Pot Goes Public. The series provides different perspectives on the business prospects for legal marijuana from key industry players. Programs include exclusive interviews hosted by Michael Montgomery, reporter for The Center for Investigative Reporting and KQED Public Radio, with Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, Privateer Holdings COO Christian Groh, and Dale Sky Jones, president of Oaksterdam University.
As a member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, Sir Richard Branson looks for alternatives to the War on Drugs and its fallout. Branson argues legalization in the United States just makes good business sense and would help spur economic activity and tax revenue.
Christian Groh describes the evolution of the pot industry and the opportunities Privateer Holdings has gone after in recent years, including start-ups like Leafly, the "Yelp of Weed." When the Health Canada law passed in April, Privateer Holdings headed North to meet the demand for medical-grade cannabis. The operation will be located in a warehouse on Vancouver Island and will grow an estimated 20,000 pounds of pot in just the first year.
Oaksterdam University president Dale Sky Jones is also a part of the Coalition for Cannabis Policy Reform and calls for the end of marijuana prohibition. She hopes her home state of California will continue the trend started by Washington and Colorado, support dispensaries and budtenders, and give the country a much-needed attitude adjustment on pot.