The Not So Simple Green Rush
The cannabis sector is an even more peculiar beast. Here we have an industry that is still illegal at the federal level in the United States, yet flourishing in dozens of individual states. Companies like Tilray are navigating a regulatory labyrinth that would give anyone a headache. They face challenges with everything from basic banking to marketing their products.
But here’s the interesting part. Those very headaches create a sort of defensive moat. It’s incredibly difficult for a small startup to manage the legal complexities across multiple jurisdictions. The companies that have already figured it out, that have the scale and the lawyers, have a significant head start. The real prize, of course, would be federal legalisation, but banking on that feels a bit like waiting for a bus that might never arrive. Still, the state by state expansion provides a steady, if bumpy, road forward.
Putting these disparate companies together, from bookmakers to cannabis growers, feels a bit odd at first. It’s a motley crew, to be sure. Grouping them into a theme, like the Vice Arbitrage basket, makes a certain kind of sense if you’re looking to capture this specific regulatory shift. It’s a portfolio of businesses built not on inventing the future, but on legitimising the past.
