By Tiby Erdely, founding partner of KEY Investment Partners There is an uninformed myth that claims the earliest investors in the regulated cannabis industry were all unsophisticated cowboys, or earthy folks that believed cannabis was good for society as well as an untapped source of medical innovations. While this is at least a partially accurate […]
The MJ Bulls: Raising Cannabis Capital Podcast features public companies, investors and cannabis companies that are raising capital to fund their growth. This year, the Series will feature eighteen of the cannabis industry’s top investors, reviewing the previous 12-months and sharing their 2022 investment strategies. KEY Investment Partners founding partner, Pete Karabas, was featured here […]
Batch Emails & Calls Limit checking email to two half hours per day, otherwise work with Outlook offline. Put your phone on mute – in emergencies, people can call twice to get through. Downgrade “time drains” everywhere. Downgrade calls to emails, emails to texts, and unnecessary texts to nothing. Batch phone calls to the end […]
The Endocannabinoid System (“ECS”) is an essential regulator of bodily function, responsible for maintaining homeostasis among all organ systems. There are few physiological processes that are not affected by it to some degree – so it is quite surprising to realize that the ECS was virtually unknown up until the turn of the century[1]. Despite […]
The upcoming US election on November 3rd could have a far-reaching impact on the speed and direction at which federal cannabis legalization occurs. The two key outcomes driving which path the industry moves are (i) whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden wins the presidential election and (ii) whether the Democrats win or the Republicans retain control of the Senate. We’ve laid out expectations for how each of four scenarios are expected to impact the pace of cannabis legalization, in ascending order of favorability. For simplicity and based on current polling data, we assume the Democrats retain control of the House of Representatives in all four scenarios.
The social, economic and political fallout from COVID-19 has the potential to exacerbate the global mental health crisis, which could increase cases of suicide and depression over the coming quarters. Historically, mental health practitioners have prescribed antidepressants to help afflicted patients, but the long-term efficacy of these drugs is questionable and varies widely based on the severity of the patients’ depression[2]. However, a resurgence in the field of psychedelic research for mental health has shown promising early signs for treating a wide variety of mental health disorders and this leads to many questions: What exactly are psychedelic drugs? Where is the research today, and what are the dangers associated with these drugs? We explore these topics and more in the blog below.
Our lives have dramatically changed over the past few weeks as we come to terms with the reality of the situation in which COVID-19 has placed us. For most Americans, the economy has come to a complete standstill as social distancing and increased ‘stay-at-home’ measures have become the new normal. Only certain ‘essential’ businesses remain open across the country as the nation works together to flatten the curve of this pandemic. In this blog post we will explore the impact of COVID-19 on the cannabis industry, how private equity has performed historically in distressed periods and why cannabis investors should look at the current state of the economy opportunistically.
Today we find ourselves in a nerve-racking environment as COVID-19 spreads across the globe. The pandemic has sent the global economy into a recessionary-like environment as investors remain uncertain as to how things will play out. I’m sure all of you have read quite a lot about the virus; however, we wanted to share our thoughts on the matter, what we expect to see in the private cannabis markets in the near future and why we believe recent events could uncover opportunities for savvy investors.
The “Iron Law of Prohibition” states that as the enforcement of prohibited drugs increases, the potency of those drugs increases as well. Basic economic principles support this theory:
1. Where there is demand, there will be supply. Outlawing a drug has never curtailed the demand for said drug. Unfortunately, forcing the product onto the illicit market ensures the suppliers will generally be gangs, organized crime syndicates, cartels, terrorist groups and others who utilize their profits for nefarious activities.
2. The greatest cost for drug smugglers is avoidance of detection. As such, black market drug manufacturers are incentivized to produce drugs in more concentrated and powerful forms.
Radical open-mindedness and radical transparency are invaluable for rapid learning and effective change. Learning is the product of a continuous real-time feedback loop in which we make decisions, see their outcomes, and improve our understanding of reality as a result.
KEY Investment Partners LLC
1550 Larimer Street, Suite 1084
Denver, Colorado 80202
