From 'Willing To Go To Jail' To C-Suite Cannabis Exec: Bloomberg Profiles Canopy's Hilary Black

Hilary Black founded Canada's first marijuana dispensary in the late 1990s and was "willing to go to jail." Today, she's Canopy Growth Corp CGC's chief advocacy officer and was profiled by Bloomberg.

What Happened

Black's exposure to cannabis dates to 1997, when she founded the B.C. Compassion Club Society at the age of 21, Bloomberg reported. The medical cannabis dispensary mimicked similar entities in San Francisco with the goal of creating a "civilly disobedient but conservative organization," she said. 

The organization helped patients obtain medical cannabis so long as they proved an illness and confirmed their activities with a primary doctor. Instead of facing time in prison, the concept gained some acceptance within the legal community as police referred patients to Black's organization.

Why It's Important

Black told Bloomberg she believes in universal access to health care and "patients across the country did not have equal access to medical cannabis." Her beliefs over the years haven't changed: she said clinical research conducted by her current employer and rivals could prove the medical benefits of cannabis.

"We are moving beyond researching if cannabis is effective and starting to unlock this complex medicine to understand how it is most effectively used," she told Bloomberg.

What's Next

Canadian laws and regulations need to continue evolving over time, including removing sales and excise taxes on medical cannabis, Black said. And the recreational side of the market has areas where it can improve, as people can still be punished for possession of cannabis, she said. 

The cannabis sector is still a "new category" in a "new industry," Black said. An opportunity exists to evolve and "do business in a new way," she said. 

"A large multinational corporation doesn't have to automatically be associated with doing harm in the world." 

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