[Skip]

Jamen Shively, a former Microsoft executive is looking to attract $10,000,000 in startup money for a national cannabis brand. He's purchased a chain of dispensaries and grows in Washington State, and is hoping to get one outlet approved in Colorado.

With that he plans to create a national cannabis brand like Starbucks. He hopes to import cannabis from Mexico, and former Mexican President Vicente Fox, was making the media rounds with him to hype the business. However Fox specifically said he isn't financially involved in the business, but wants to see marijuana legalized so that his country can live in peace.

https://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...94T0ZE20130530

[watts]

feds will just take their money once they start making it.. this guy is dreaming

[resinryder]

Import it from Mexico. Maybe it will come in the fancy foil packed bricks like coffee does.

[Skip]

Mr. Shively made some very interesting comments. He likened the Federal government's anti-cannabis stance to the Berlin Wall, and noted that it's being chipped at more and more and soon it will collapse.

Remember this is what ended prohibition. States starting to pass their own laws in spite of the Feds, and once it becomes big businesses the Feds give up.

He claimed that the Feds are specifically targeting illegal business, not legal cannabis businesses, adding that those are the ones laundering money, not paying taxes or too close to schools. He seemed to imply that was the Feds current policy.

I liked that he included Vicente Fox, the former Mexican president, because he's become a very reformed minded activist. Now that he's no longer on the Narcos payroll, he's suddenly found religion. But he's very right about how America's War on Drugs is destroying his country and killing tens of thousands.

[ChaosCatalunya]

Watts is right, look at the form book, the Feds always swoop, take out the biggest players and leave the smaller fish bewildered and frightened, Marc Emery, Kim Dotcom etc.

Skip too, it is a wall and it is coming down, finally. Greed vs crisis, when the neighbours see how well Washington, Colorado and now here, Spain with the quiet move to private members clubs, are doing, the money generated, taxes earned, jobs created, pigs free to pursue criminals who are actually harming society... they will quickly follow. Just like the wall analogy, take a few bricks out and a once mighty wall is just a pile of nasty rubble.

Not too sure about the future success of Corporate types in this industry, if you were not prepared to stick your neck out and do it when it was illegal you will never really gain the respect of those who risked all when it was.

[Hydrosun]

He bought up Grows and Dispensaries? FWIW the only legal state grows in WA at this time ar medical gardens. These medical gardens are not licensed or sale-able items. If the feds are only looking for large players breaking state law, then they need look no further than this guy.

[SimplySour]

I read the article a couple times, and there are some glaring inconsistencies. He claims he is injecting $100m over the next three years, but said that he's only raised $125,000 so far? He alleges these numbers are not current, but doesn't specify the current numbers, but is willing to talk about his planned investment amount.

Also, he won't provide details on anything. He is going to import weed from another country? Yeaaaa, you know that's not happening. It sounds like he's planning on buying some land, growing millions of plants, likely of mediocre quality, and is partnering with current store front dispensaries to sell his wares. Nothing really innovative, and the name of his company sucks.

[OGShush]

He hopes to import cannabis from Mexico? Where I come from this is what we call "more money than brains." Who is going to want to buy that Alli Seedy when there's locally grown name brand shit available? This guy is preparing himself to be the Budweiser of the pot industry. I don't know about you guys but I don't drink that rice water bullshit.

[watts]

I figure if its ever nationally legalized then the pharmaceutical industry or government will run it all, especially if they are going to consider it "medical". If they do it like alcohol then maybe it'll be different but I don't think they are going to let guys like this start doing it anytime soon.

[budtendermike]

I'm surprised that no one is upset about the fact that this guy is essentially trying to eliminate American cannabis growers.

Conceivably the cannabis he would like to import from Mexico would be purchased for below cost of production in the good old USA.

This guy is a royal douche. He's been smoking cannabis for 18 months and has probably contributed next to nothing on legalization initiatives. Now he hopes to come in and swoop the profits from the hands of those that brought this whole industry this far.

Good thing is Jamen Shivelly doesn't have a great track record for succeeding in his business endeavors. The name of his newest business "Diego Pellicier" (Pronounced Payee-Sayr) is plain stupid. F**K this guy.