Chris Parrington: We Are Ruining Social Equity

Progress in the Minnesota market, industrywide compliance problems and how to fix broken social equity programs.

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This week, Chris Parrington, founder of Cannapliant Consulting and general counsel of Boustead Securities, joins the Cannabis Equipment Podcast to discuss progress in the Minnesota market, industrywide compliance problems and how to fix broken social equity programs.

Chris Parrington is an attorney by trade who has been practicing for some 20 years. He spent most of his time in financial services, helping investment banking firms with litigation and regulatory compliance.

Around February 2014, a client out of Kansas had a problem. A branch office in Denver, Colorado, had a prospective customer who wanted to invest in traditional mutual funds with $300,000 in cash. It set off a few red flags, but the man made the money growing and selling legal cannabis. While Parrington's client decided it was safest to walk away, he became interested in the opportunity to be at the forefront of a new legal industry.

At first, he started speaking with self-described cannabis law "experts" and found most to be former criminal defense lawyers trying to become business lawyers. When he asked them how they handled compliance, it was pretty succinct: "I tell my clients how to stay out of federal prison," as Parrington recalls. He found a gap in the industry that became a calling.

Parrington spent the better part of the last decade practicing law in the cannabis industry, working with operators, investors, and ancillary service and product providers.

Last year, Parrington set out on his own. He tired of litigation, fighting other people's fights, so he left private practice and joined investment banking firm Boustead Securities as general counsel. But he didn't want to leave cannabis behind, so he formed Cannapliant Consulting to provide compliance services for the cannabis industry, making sure businesses are bankable, defensible and insurable.

Jump around:

  • Introducing cannabis operators to modern legal services. (8:09)
  • The cannabis industry is both ahead and behind schedule. (11:30)
  • How we are ruining social equity. (15:57)
  • Addressing regulatory arrogance. (21:53)
  • Why Delta-8 needs to go. (29:49)
  • The state of the Minnesota cannabis industry. (38:25)
  • Creative solutions to compliance problems. (43:26)
  • Why compliance is a four-letter word in cannabis. (49:05)
  • Cultivation efforts on tribal lands. (53:39)
  • Leaving private practice and founding Cannapliant Compliance. (58:19)


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