ArcView CEO Troy Dayton On Cannabis Going Mainstream, Entering Major Capital Markets

“While we focus mostly on private companies, I do think there are some exciting sectors [for the cannabis industry] like the testing technologies sector as well as the AgTech sector,” Troy Dayton CEO of the ArcView Group and famed legalization advocate told Benzinga in a recent interview.

“[And I believe this] in part because they both have applications outside of cannabis, so if anything goes wrong on the cannabis front, there’s still a lot of opportunity in the other markets.”

Weed And Major Capital Markets

A few days ago, Innovative Industrial Properties Inc IIPR became the first medical marijuana properties-focused REIT to be accepted in the New York Stock Exchange, surprising many analysts who believed the REIT wouldn’t be accepted due to its non-compliance to federal laws.

Talking about the issue, Dayton noted, “I think it’s a huge milestone for the industry to have a company that is so close to the plant and so explicitly about cannabis being traded in the New York Stock Exchange. It certainly adds a certain level of credibility that I think is super important for our industry.”

Going Mainstream

Also quite recently, Constellation Brands, Inc. STZ, one of the top alcoholic beverages producers of the United States — responsible for Corona beer and Svedka vodka — said it was considering a venture in the legal cannabis industry.

“Certainly larger companies and larger brands are increasingly going to be interested in the cannabis sector,” Dayton said when asked about the subject.

“I think that, until federal law changes, though, we won’t see a ton of this activity happening. And that gives the small and medium size player a real chance to take a run at a multi-billion-dollar market before they really have to compete with many of the big dogs,” he added. “We’ll start seeing a few of them come into the picture, but I really think that, when it comes to companies that actually touch the plant, I think that they won’t really start getting in until either right after, or just before federal law changes.”

Other Verticals

Looking for some other derivative plays on marijuana legalization? Check out why marijuana legalization in California could boost real estate big time, where investment options like DCT Industrial Trust Inc DCT and First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. FR are explored.

Looking for pure plays in the sector? Check out what marijuana legalization and aRepublican government mean for the pot industry, where expert Alan Brochstein, founding partner at New Cannabis Ventures and founder at 420 Investor, mentioned a few Canadian Licensed Producers, including AURORA CANNABIS IN COM NPV ACBFF, APHRIA INC NPV APHQF, METTRUM HEALTH COR COM NPV MQTRF, ORGANIGRAM HLDGS I COM NPV OGRMF, SUPREME PHARMACEUT COM NPV SPRWF and CANOPY GROWTH CORP COM NPV TWMJF.