It was high times at a high society hotel on Wednesday when a new cannabis-focused private equity fund took its fundraising pitch to a big agricultural conference at New York's Waldorf Astoria. The High Times Growth Fund aims to raise $200 million-$300 million to invest in the legal marijuana industry, which is projected to reach sales of $2.6 billion in the US this year. Twenty-two U.S states allow medical use of the drug, and Colorado and Washington have legalized recreational sales.

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"I don't see any way this isn't going to be, from a dollar value, one of the larger if not the largest crop out there," said Ben Zaitz, a longtime dairy farmer and agricultural investor who is a partner in the fund. By comparison, the USDA estimates US corn farmers will take home $49bn this year. Addressing a ballroom of investors at the Global AgInvesting conference amid presentations from Macquarie and Deloitte, Jordan Lewis, another partner, said: "Hopefully this is the beginning of a change in acceptance of cannabis in the agriculture industry and elsewhere." Mr Lewis, founder of Silverpeak Apothecary in Aspen, Colorado, and Mr Zaitz have joined Michael Kennedy, general counsel of High Times, the New York magazine that has long advocated for legalization, to tap into what Mr Lewis called "one of the most promising and least understood opportunities in agriculture and medicine in my generation". More from the Financial Times:

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Marijuana debate rages at 'Stoner Bowl' The fund will invest in start-ups and existing businesses in three areas: growing and selling cannabis, plant genetics and propagation, and associated services. The partners plan to use Silverpeak's vertically integrated retail and growing operation as a model in places such as Nevada, where medical marijuana recently became legal, as well as in other states that legalize recreational use in future. "Our role is to get the cannabis industry to step up and meet the requirements of the recreational market," said Mr Zaitz. "If this is the next agricultural sector, how do we create the supply chain that exists in rice or dairy to deliver a high-quality product in a renewable, sustainable manner with traceability?"