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Do you think that this year we’re going to see full legalization in Mexico?

Yes, sir. Before my birthday, my 77th birthday, July the 2nd, I’m sure the whole enchilada will be there in Mexico. Approval for medical use, approval for recreational use.

So how do you see the Mexican cannabis industry shaping up?

No. 1, the process has to finalize. Right now, we’re expecting the regulation for medical use. It should happen any day. And, before July the 2nd, the recreational use. We already see strong, emerging forces, economic forces, in Mexico. Entrepreneurs, innovators, big businesses, big investors, everybody is now somewhere, and they know it’s coming and they’re ready to go.

What do you think of the progress that’s been made here so far on cannabis legalization?

It’s incredible what has happened in months. The increase in production is incredible. The amount that is being produced today is incredible. The flow of money, not only to investment, but to research, to development of new products, to innovation, to conforming corporations. This industry in 10 years is doing what the Coca Cola Co. did in 100 years.

Do you think that the government of new Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is going to ratify the new NAFTA?

Yes. This government in a way is contradictory, and one side is extremely populist on what they say is their social commitment and responsibility, but they don’t know anything about running an economy and running it correctly. But they know that to give away, they need to produce. So for the moment, they’ve been behaving quite well for the markets, for the market economy, for the fundamentals of the Mexican economy, and I hope that it stays there and then we can come along.