Guy Rocourt, co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Papa & Barkley, discusses the regulatory progress California has made over the past few years as well as what makes cannabis regulations especially unique. Rocourt also talks about the currently underwhelming steps that the state is taking in terms of justice and equity in the cannabis industry: “We’re still kind of flailing on how best to give back as an industry as far as just social justice goes around licensing…the state really didn’t take too much of a leadership position where they should have.” He also dives into expungement, safe access, various bills waiting to be passed in Congress, descheduling, and more.
Seth: Guy Rocourt returns. Welcome to Cannabis Economy. I'm your host Seth Adler. Download episodes on canneconomy.com, that's two Ns in the word economy, or wherever you currently get your podcasts. First a word from our supporter and then Guy Rocourt.
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Seth: All right, so we've got Guy Rocourt. Once again, you are where you are. I am where I am. It's good to have you either way. How you been?
Guy Rocourt: Thanks. Good. Excellent, excellent.
Seth: It's been a while since we've spoken and so I just want to kind of get your thoughts on kind of big picture stuff and go through and then maybe talk a little Papa & Barkley at the end there. How about that?
Guy Rocourt: Sure.
Seth: So to remind folks, a couple of decades of experience here in legal cannabis or [crosstalk 00:01:45] cannabis.
Guy Rocourt: Yeah, I started right at the beginning and we had Proposition 215 and SB 420 here. I started advocating and cultivating and yeah, just trying to push the movement forward here in California.
Seth: So before we get into specifics, you and I happen to be talking kind of on the precipice of 2020 the year, because it already sounds weird, right?
Guy Rocourt: Yeah.
Seth: How do you see us? I'll just ask that big open-ended question. How are we doing?
Guy Rocourt: Look, I think it's going good. It's baby steps. Again, I've been patiently waiting for 20 years. I thought that the people of California had spoken pretty clearly back in 1996 but it took two solid decades before we got Proposition 64 and got temporary regulations, and now what are more permanent regulations as they've rolled out over the last couple of years. And so in California we've made extreme progress in those last three years. I think there's still a lot of work to be done in Sacramento to have the traditional market find its way to compliance. Because there are still more traditional dispensaries than there are compliant dispensaries. And by traditional I mean those who are operating in the same scheme that they operated in for the last 20 years under collective bargaining and that kind of stuff.
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