Optimism Reigns Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference
CHICAGO – The mood was upbeat at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Chicago as the industry’s power players converged on the Magnificent Mile Marriott Hotel for two days to reconnect and reflect on what felt like the lowest year legal cannabis has endured to date. The industry’s optimism initially sprung from the Department of Health and Human Services’ August 30 recommendation that the DEA reschedule cannabis , igniting some hope that our latest bear run is behind us. During the conference, the mood was buoyed further by positive news from Washington: For the first time, the Senate took action on cannabis banking reform . “We were very fortunate because this year the conference started on the same day the Senate Banking Committee passed the SAFER Banking Act through markup,” said Elliot Lane, vice president of events and head of Benzinga’s cannabis division. “This really influenced the energy at the event.” The publicly traded multistate operators (MSOs), several of whi...