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AROUND THE REGION
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Back Cover Story: Great Grandfather of Hybrid Cannabis Says

Florida Medical Marijuana Industry Needs an Overhaul

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voted for,” said Naya, adding that this left a lot of people very angry. ings, and can create different brands and provide a larger variety of products to work
One of the major complaints is that because of these monopolies, people are not with people’s medical conditions. They are not as susceptible to the need for large
able to purchase the products they want from the businesses they want. The alterna- scale returns-on-investment (ROI).”
tive to vertical integration would be to allow companies to play different roles within Naya adds that the market is already starting to show some cracks as lessened
the market, which could lead to a more varied industry. demand for certain products is forcing larger companies to scale back. “You can’t just
“The cannabis culture has a way of weeding out the good and bad within our extract a terpene and put a flavonoid in it; you need to start crafting what people
arena; we hold wannabes to the very highest levels of business,” said Naya. “We’re want,” he said.
not Cheech and Chong anymore—we are extremely educated professionals who If the state were to overhaul its system, Naya suggests starting with social econom-
work in all facets of the industry. ic reforms and working with the minorities that have been most impacted by the cur-
“The state should open up the market to anybody who wants to be in it—If I want rent laws.
to open a landscaping business and I follow all the rules to do that, I’m allowed. So “Half the problems of racial injustice stem from the failed drug war on cannabis,
why can’t we do that with cannabis?” he added. “The corporations came in hard and so the state should start by working with minority-owned, mom-and-pop shops to
heavy, capitalized on the law to get markets established, and they’ve done well. But help them get into the market,” he said. “If they don’t have the revenue to do it, the
it was illegal, and now citizens’ voices are finally being heard.” state can provide them with business opportunities using the funds that have already
Naya pictures the medical marijuana industry developing just like the craft beer been collected by the medical marijuana industry.
industry, where products are designed to meet customer demand. “Craft breweries “Florida needs to learn from its mistakes, and unfortunately, big money only
are now monopolizing most of the beer sales, and there’s a reason for that,” he said. learns after it affects their investments,” he said
“Just like craft beer, small craft award-winning cannabis producers have local follow-

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