Mm-hmm

... uh, that's, I think, again, the stealth, uh, catalyst, uh, 'cause it gives clarity to the balance sheets and, and really allows the, I mean, makes a lot of these companies investable again.

Uh, but there's still, you know, a lot of uplifts to come.

There's still, um, the fundamentals, which, uh, I think will, uh, improve next year as the hemp ban takes place.

Um, we don't see a, a world where edibles and, um, inhalables, uh, survive.

Uh, we are told/hoping for a beverage carve-out, as I think most people in the industry are.

They recognize that these low-dose beverages, and we're told five milligram caps to start.

Mm-hmm

Mm-hmm.

Um, you know, we, we are po- you know, we are, uh, positive on, you know, the, you know, aforementioned happening, that we'll get a final rule before the midterm.

Uh, of course, there's gonna be legal, uh, challenges.

Um, but I think, you know, if you could point to growth, uh, you know, and that, you know, bringing back the hemp question, uh, and really again, what this does, uh- For the states, many which are tied to the federal CSA, uh, you know, a lot of states are gonna, I think, uh, loosen up.

We expect banking to loosen up.

We expect treasury guidance and IRS guidance, uh, and all that to come.

So, you know, are you a trader or are you an investor, right? You know, uh, and, and, uh, just s- sync your time horizon with your risk profile best you can, you know.

In terms of the institutional interest and kind of what's been sniffing around, is there any through line in terms of qualities that they're looking at, that they're kind of keeping an eye on that's more important than others, or is it sort of the basic ones you think, balance sheet, um, opportunity to up list, and all those things?

... things change.

Well, a lot, and, and a lot's gonna come down to what the EU GMP, if that is the certification, because there's a lot of components.

And I know, you know, we've spoken to Glasshouse about, you know, ways that they're contemplating, you know, international.

And I, I know that, uh, every- you know, where you stand is a function of where you sit, [chuckles] right? Like we, this we know.

Uh, whether you're a multi-state operator or not, like we're personally, like I'm more excited about, you know, a company like Indira that we're invested in, that they're shopping for, you know, antimicrobials and MRSA and biofilms.

Like holy, like that's like, you know-

It's awesome

...

So-

Yeah, and he asked me on some individual names and, you know, I, I, you know, g- uh, because we were talking between the break and there were, like, I think a handful of names I had told, I had circled for him, and we just got us, uh, talking about Village Farms.

Uh, I had given him that the night before.

Village reported on Monday.

[clears throat] Outstanding quarter.

I still think, you know, best bang for the buck.

You know, they got the international footprint.

Yes

That's not how this works.

Right.

Yeah, no, that, that is one of the interesting things here in the request.

A- and I-- to their credit, you know, the big surge in munition and interceptor production in FY27, it is largely sustained in the base budget in the out years.

There's still a bit of a spike for some of these key weapons in FY27, but I think that reflects, you know, they're anticipating that reconciliation funding being available, so it's really...

You know, they'll execute it more spread out over the years.

But it's some huge increases above prior procurement rates and production levels.

Does this request reflect a coherent, intentional shift from R&D toward fielding capabilities at scale, or is just the fact that they think they're going to have this much money mean that the Pentagon is trying to accelerate programs before the requirements and the acquisition strategies are really mature or in place?

So, yeah, we got to get the word out there, right?

Yeah, I think this is about the normalization of cannabis as an investment.

And certainly we're in a place now where we're almost at the starting gate.

I think the uplisting to the New York Stock Exchange of several companies was a step.

But you need news.

You need a catalyst.

You need a reason to buy.

I think once we get this filing brief deadline, I think it's a week from today, if I'm correct, the 17th, we're going to start to see a lot of things start to move a lot quicker.

So I want to kick off this conversation by asking what just some of the biggest regulatory challenges that the pet industry is facing today.

I think the biggest regulatory challenges is claims and what claims they can make and how to effectively communicate those things and ensuring that the products are made and they're effective.

So ensuring that when you're communicating those things, they're communicating it correctly to the consumer so they know what they're buying.

And that's one thing that NASC has done very well with their foreign seal.

You know you're getting a good product because of the seal.

There's a lot of bad actors out there, and Bill can address the bad actors better than I can, but you need to ensure that you have good GMPs in place, and the seal ensures that.

And then the next thing is that don't listen to the hype, because a lot of companies will go out there and say, oh, here's cancer, here's...

And from the top, from the brand side, what are common legal pitfalls that brands fall into in this space?