Cannabis is one of the fastest-growing industries globally, with governments across the world taking steps toward legalization and investors doubling down on backing the technology last year to help propel the industry forward.

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This has led to the industry thriving despite an ongoing pandemic and a supply chain nightmare.

Eric Benz, contributor at CannaDAO, a project that is creating an ecosystem of opportunity for the cannabis industry via tokenization and a permissionless, decentralized, on-chain platform governed by its members, says that legalization of the cannabis industry will open up immense opportunities to individuals and businesses in global markets and in turn pave the way for other plant medicines and treatments to come.

Benz says Cannabis has been misrepresented in the media and across the industry for more than a century and as a result, the perception and understanding have been completely misguided and that the industry has gone through an incredible maturation process and the world is beginning to wake up to all the wonderful benefits this plant provides.

“In addition to saving lives, cannabis is also cleaning the pollution in the air, replacing concrete, and transforming the way we harness plant medicine overall. The countries that have banned cannabis have done so for reasons which have no merit and are based on antiquated beliefs and societal stereotypes which are no longer fit for purpose. The world is waking up to the blooming cannabis market and it’s time to elevate this industry,” he says.

Asked if lifting bans on this industry would increase cases of addiction, Benz said Cannabis is a natural plant used to cure pain and also help with anxiety and depression and that the industry is at a tipping point and it is bursting at the seams waiting for regulation to open up to take full advantage. “Once more bans are lifted it will begin putting cannabis in a new light and showcase the benefits and opportunities whilst redefining how cannabis is represented in media and by governments,” he says.

He added that the current industry is extremely regulated and now that regulatory framework has to be adapted to the web3 world, allowing technology and the community to empower the advancement of the cannabis industry.

Asked to comment on the potential benefits of legalizing the industry, for consumers and businesses, Benz said legalization of the cannabis industry will open up immense opportunities to individuals and businesses in global markets and in turn pave the way for other plant medicines and treatments to come. “There will be new innovative ways for the cannabis sector to truly deliver industry-changing and life-saving treatments, which will truly set the tone for the advancement of plant medicine,” he said.

Replying to a query on if blockchain technology is leveraged to regulate the cannabis industry, making governments more inclined towards legalizing the sector, he said the great thing about the blockchain is that it provides true auditability and accountability acting as an immutable source of truth and an irrevocable database of information, which is there forever and for always.

“We have still a way to go before getting governments on board with cannabis but by leveraging technology we can redefine how this industry is represented and how we can provide access to anyone in the world. You don’t necessarily need to touch it or smoke it to be educated and incentivized from it,” he said.

Benz rued that the biggest problem within the cannabis industry is access to capital and that growers across the world simply cannot get financing from any bank or financial institution and this is due in large part to the misguided regulatory frameworks, which have been in place for decades now.

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“With the industry growing at such an unprecedented level, it’s time to solve the problem whilst leveraging technology and community. The CannaDAO is a decentralized investment vehicle run by the community to disrupt a trillion-dollar industry. It’s time we highlight both the financial components as well as the benefits that cannabis provides and redefining what the lead represents and means is how we truly see cannabis becoming more mainstream in the years to come,” Benz said.

The author, Murtuza Merchant, is a senior journalist and an avid follower of blockchain and cryptocurrencies.