The Oracle Of The Cannabis Business Speaks

Steve DeAngelo has been preaching the pot gospel for more than 45 years. It’s made him one of the most notable weed wellness advocates in the world. It’s also made him very rich.

- Jonathan Small

With his hippie pigtails and smart suits, Steve DeAngelo perfectly embodies the split in today’s cannabis industry. He’s an old-school activist and advocate who joined the cannabis reform movement in the 1970s, attending July Fourth smoke-ins in front of the White House and traveling the country to spread the word on the healing powers of weed. But he’s also a canny businessman with an expert read on the marketplace, which led him to begin with a profitable hemp company and later open Harborside Health Center, the largest medical marijuana dispensary in the world, which went public on the Canadian stock market with a valuation of $150 million. His most recent venture is Arcview Group, an angel investment company focused on cannabis entrepreneurs. Here, he talks about where the industry is, where it’s going, and what entrepreneurs can do to get in on the so-called Green Rush.

Is it really true that you were born at 4:20 PM?

It is. It’s on my birth certificate. Keep in mind I was born in 1958, quite some time before 420 was established as a code for cannabis. I like to say that I don’t know how Mom managed to pull that off, but I will be eternally grateful to her for that.

Where do you see the cannabis industry going in the next three to five years?

We’re seeing a trend away from raw flowers, away from the smoked-format cannabis products toward socially discreet and convenient product formats—cartridges, vape stands, little breath mints, transdermal skin patches, tinctures.