Vicente Fox: Greed could take marijuana industry on a dangerous path

Vicente
Fox speaks during a news conference on the first day of the
U.S.-Mexico Symposium on Legalization and Medical Use of Cannabis
in San Francisco del Rincon, Mexico.
AP Photo/Mario Armas

• Former Mexican President Vicente Fox recently joined
  the board of Khiron Life
  Sciences Corp, a Canadian medical cannabis
  company with operations in Colombia.
• Fox said it’s incumbent upon investors and companies in
  the cannabis industry to act ethically and responsibility —
  otherwise, the policy shift is doomed to fail.
• Fox envisions a future where marijuana is included in
  NAFTA. 

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox says investors,
entrepreneurs, and companies in the
booming marijuana industry should set an example of ethical
behavior — or the whole legalization project is doomed to fail.

“This is a big responsibility
upon the shoulders of all of those who decide to participate,”
Fox told Business Insider in a recent interview, calling
marijuana legalization a “paradigmatic change.” 

Fox recently joined the board of
Khiron Life Sciences, a Canadian medical marijuana company with
significant operations in
Colombia. Fox told Business Insider he has worked on issues
pertaining to marijuana legalization for over a decade since he
left office through his foundation, Centro Fox.

“If we don’t act with ethics, if
we don’t act with responsibility, if we are going to become
greedy and just look after the profits and money, it will not
work,” Fox said. “We will fail.”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions in January removed the Obama-era
protections — known as the Cole Memo — for the marijuana industry
in the US, freeing up state prosecutors to enforce federal law.
James Cole, a former top Justice Department official
who wrote the memo, told Business Insider in a
recent interview that the Sessions-led Justice Department
could crack down on marijuana businesses who are “marginally in
and out of compliance with state laws,” by selling to minors or
fudging their taxes. 

Some form of medical marijuana is
legal in 30
US states, and another nine states, including California,
allow the adult use of marijuana. Canada will become the first
Group of Seven country to
legalize marijuana federally when the law goes into effect on
October 17. 

Fox predicts that Mexico will be
next to legalize marijuana for adults in 2019, once the new
president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, assumes
office. Legalizing marijuana could undercut cartel profits
and reduce drug-related violence in Mexico, according to
Fox. 

The swiftly changing regulations
have given rise to a brand-new legal marijuana industry, with

publicly-traded companies and
dedicated investment funds pursuing
billion-dollar deals with established firms. Wall Street
analysts predict legal marijuana will balloon to a
$47 billion industry in the US alone over the next decade and
may become a $200 billion industry globally, as more medical and
recreational markets
open up.

All eyes are on Canada to serve
as an example for how other countries can move forward with
developing regulations around legalized
marijuana. 
Fox
envisions a future where marijuana is included in NAFTA, like the
telecom and auto industries.

“The only way this industry will
be sustained is by being very serious, very professional, and
very ethical,” Fox said.

Read more of Business Insider’s marijuana industry coverage: