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The two men may disagree on marijuana reform — Mr. Campbell wholeheartedly endorses legalization, while Mr. Reynolds is more cautious — but they have similar roles as corporate cannabis advisors.

They believe they can help Vodis organize its affairs and compete with other marijuana start-ups and established companies. The company’s young executives might know plenty about growing potent bud, but they “don’t know s–t from shinola about business,” says Mr. Campbell. That’s why he signed on, he adds: To help them with corporate regulations, audits and security matters.

In exchange for his counsel, he received purchase options on about 250,000 Vodis shares.

For his part, Mr. Reynolds thinks he can help Vodis with disclosure requirements and public outreach, such as engaging with the communities where the company hopes to grow its marijuana. But he insists he won’t lobby.

“I don’t make calls to government,” he says. “I’m just being an advisor. I do that for a lot of companies. If they are willing to pay what I charge, I’ll do it.” Vodis is just one of many upstarts in the medical marijuana business, which still in its infancy in Canada, but expected to grow by leaps and bounds, thanks to the country’s new Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR), introduced in April.

The new regulatory regime is meant to divert medical marijuana production from thousands of independent home grows and black-market operations to secure, inspected facilities run by law-abiding companies.