Like all these CEO’s who pronounce on cannabis he’ll be proved wrong in the long run but at the moment his job is to sell up Curaleaf, sell down Aurora and sell down the fact that the “illegal” market still dwarfs his world as for hemp he’s get semi-regulated competition out of the way and won’t care a flying fart about the rise of the black market which will be all conquering this time next year.
Ignite It
Curaleaf’s Boris Jordan on Rescheduling and the Hemp Ban: “I Think It’s Over”
Boris Jordan sees federal cannabis policy moving in two very different directions: regulated cannabis toward greater access to capital and consolidation, and intoxicating hemp toward a much more restrictive market.
In the final installment of IgniteIt’s exclusive interview with the Curaleaf chairman and CEO, Jordan said he believes cannabis rescheduling is close and could fundamentally improve the economics of the regulated industry.
“We’re very close to a full rescheduling of cannabis in the United States,” Jordan said, arguing that the change would “open the door to lower costs of capital and growth and consolidation.”
Rescheduling Could Open the Capital Markets
For Jordan, the immediate importance of rescheduling is financial.
Cannabis companies have operated for years with limited access to traditional capital markets and unusually high financing costs. Jordan expects rescheduling to begin changing that equation, bringing more capital into the sector while accelerating M&A.
He already expects 2027 to be an active year for consolidation.
“I think there’s going to be quite a few” cannabis deals, Jordan said.
He expects the process to begin with smaller operators being acquired state by state before eventually reaching combinations between larger cannabis companies.
“This is a volume velocity business, and you don’t need so many companies,” Jordan said.
He compared the evolution he expects in cannabis with alcohol, food and confectionery, where consolidation eventually produced larger companies with more efficient economics.
“Eventually these companies start to consolidate, and they get a lot more efficient economics from scale,” he said.
Curaleaf itself could also gain greater access to U.S. capital markets following rescheduling. Jordan said the company would likely look toward a U.S. uplisting in early 2027, although that process remains dependent on regulatory developments.
Jordan Expects Reform to Come in Steps
Jordan believes the industry would initially remain largely state by state.
From there, he sees exports as one possible next step, followed potentially by some interstate commerce, particularly on the medical side.
Full federal legalization would change the industry much more dramatically, Jordan said, but he stopped short of predicting when — or even whether — that will happen.
“I can’t predict that far out,” he said.
On intoxicating hemp, however, Jordan had little hesitation making a prediction.
On Hemp: “I Think It’s Over”
Asked about the federal crackdown on intoxicating hemp products and how the sector should be regulated, Jordan blamed much of the industry’s predicament on the hemp industry itself.
“I think the hemp industry hurt itself,” Jordan said. “They didn’t self-regulate.”
He criticized the sale of products he described as inadequately controlled, including synthetic cannabinoids, and raised concerns about products reaching minors. He contrasted that with state-regulated cannabis, where products are subject to testing and regulatory standards.
Jordan also dismissed the idea that the recent extension of the federal deadline fundamentally changes hemp’s outlook.
“I think this extension that just happened is not going to help them because there is no way Congress is going to allow that madness to continue to go on,” he said.
Then came one of his strongest statements of the interview.
“It’s not going to survive December 11th,” Jordan said. “I think it’s over.”
