Acreage CEO Kevin Murphy: 'There's No Greater Privilege Than Enriching The Lives Of Others'

In a surprise appearance, Acreage Holdings ACRGF CEO Kevin Murphy popped in at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Detroit on Thursday. He emphasized the excitement of the space as regulatory standards and business innovation evolve.

‘There’s No Greater Privilege’

Murphy said the cannabis space is the greatest job he has ever had. By helping others help themselves become better, he is extremely prideful.

“Being in this business, there’s no greater privilege than enriching the lives of others,” he said.

Murphy encouraged others to find partners to work together and market themselves because the goal of the industry is to bring people together to find better solutions to improve their livelihoods.

Earlier this summer, Canopy Growth Co. CGC finalized a deal to acquire Acreage to eventually create the world’s largest cannabis company.

Helping Vulnerable Communities

In regards to a recent Silicon Valley conference Murphy attended, he stressed that artificial intelligence could not replace human interaction in the cannabis space.

“AI can’t supplement for margin and ultimately helping each other,” he said.

Murphy also advocated for helping communities that have disproportionately been negatively impacted by previous cannabis legislation. The American Civil Liberties Union reported black Americans are 3.73 times more likely to be arrested on marijuana charges than white Americans despite similar usage rates.

He then emphasized how cannabis helps others, and to not listen to adversarial messages that label cannabis as an inhibitor to a successful life.

"Don't tell that to the parents of a child who’s had 70 seizures a day and has been reduced to one a month because of cannabis,” Murphy said. “Don’t tell that to the veteran suffering from PTSD."

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Acreage CEO Kevin Murphy speaking at the Cannabis Capital Conference in Detroit on Aug. 15. Photo by Dustin Blitchok.