2473 - High Hopes and Legal Loopholes in a Candid Chat About Cannabis with Rudick Law Group's Juliana Salazar

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0:46Visit podverify.com if you'd like to be featured as a future guest. I'm Josh Elledge. Let's get into it. With us right now is Juliana Salazar. Juliana, you are of counsel with Ruddock Law Group. You are found on the web at RuddockLawGroup.com. You are with a cannabis law firm. Fascinating industry. I'm so excited to kind of get some updates on kind of what's been going on from your perspective. We're going to get to that in just a second. Before we do, I always love hearing from great leaders who are multi-passionate and just asking, what are you kind of geeking out on or what are you into lately outside of work?

1:32Sure. Thank you so much for having me, Josh. Besides being an attorney, my brain requires a lot of creativity as well. So I've always been an artist, too. And my choice of art is photography. It's always been ever since I was a little girl, I learned to use my parents' old cameras. And then I transitioned into digital cameras. I've done photo shoots for, you know, portraits and in different contexts. And I was pretty much into it before the pandemic. Unfortunately, my approach to art had to change. I had to focus more on my business. But now that I'm coming back to it, I'm trying to appreciate art as a purpose on its own.

2:12I am trying to edit every single one of my travel pictures for example I went to Argentina this year with my husband so I have a bunch of architectural pictures that I want to just take a look at every single one of them and instead of batch editing which is you know what a usual photographer would do and I what I would usually do if I was working or if this were my line of living but because it's just art to me now it's lovely to just appreciate every single little thing so I'm having a blast doing that. I was fascinated by AI and Photoshop, for example. So I had some very fun afternoons, just sort of geeking out and trying all the new features.

2:52They're amazing. They're very, very fun. They will fry your computer though. So be careful if you're like me and you have an older MacBook Air, but it was very fun. And I'm trying to translate that into reading as well. I do a lot of reading and I usually do. I'm a very structured and type A person. So I will do like mini projects and I'll read this book and this book and this book. And now I'm trying to read whatever I want just because, you know, I like the title or because I saw something about the author and it caught my eye. So yeah, I'm trying to take art as a purpose in on itself and trying to integrate that idea into my life, which has been very, very fun.

3:32You know, you are not alone. And I have talked with so many others. Of course, it's obviously also kind of just a big trend for it's it's appreciating the humanity or preaching the art of something. So I know, like, for example, my son, you know, loves taking a physical vinyl album, putting it on a turntable, plugging in his high fidelity headphones and then just actively listening. And to me, it's almost akin to kind of what you're talking about is it's you can eat food if you're hungry and you could scarf it down. You're like, great. I just checked that box and I ate. Now I'm no longer hungry.

4:14That's one way. Or, you know, you can enjoy a meal and you can really just appreciate the mouthfeel and the flavor and try to identify this, you know, the the flavors that you're you're you know, that you're experiencing. but just slowing down to appreciate the craft and the art of something. I just see, I'm seeing more and more and more people, especially I think it's interesting in a day, you know, when AI can replicate a lot of these creative endeavors, you know, to say, you know what, no, I appreciate that as its place, but I also like, I want to spend and invest time in something and, and get that, that feeling afterwards of, I did this, I worked hard and look what I have now.

5:06I just think it's so great. I love, I love this. Thank you so much for sharing that. Do you post your, do you post your photos online then? So I used to do it. I used to have an Instagram account for my pictures. I stopped doing it just because I'm trying to take a while off of Instagram. So I have not continued to post my pictures, but I do have a few, you know, online catalogs. I'm planning on launching a new website for my pictures as well, just for fun. And I've done a little bit of merchandising. So I print my pictures into scarves and, you know, products, which are beautiful. Yeah. So I've done that in different stages of my life.

5:43But yes, I would like to start sharing art just for, you know, the purpose of sharing my art and for people to, if you find it lovely, that's amazing. And I hope it brings a smile to your face. All right. Yes. Juliana, Thank you so much for sharing that. So let's talk about the work that you do with RuddickLawGroup.com. First, maybe just a quick overview of who Ruddick is and who you serve. Sure, absolutely. So I'm a Colombian licensed attorney and entrepreneur, right? So that essentially means I can practice law in Colombia, and I work as a business consultant as well in different parts of the world and for different clients.

6:19So I've been doing this for a decade now, and I met Lauren from the Ruddick Law Group, the managing principal last year off of pure chance. Like it was absolute universal synchronicity and you know it was fate that we met because I was at a place where I was kind of fighting with the cannabis industry. I'm sure you understand that the cannabis industry is very complicated and you know full of nuances. So after I was an entrepreneur for a few years in the industry with my own company and we had to declare bankruptcy, I had a hard time coming back to cannabis. But then I met someone randomly through LinkedIn who said, you have to talk to Lauren Ruddick.

7:01So I spoke to her and she said, you have to meet one of our attorneys. She's in Columbia right now. So I met her. We hit it off, became great friends. And then I came back to Lauren. She said, I would love to see you in New York. I went to New York and we started working together because we see a huge opportunity in connecting North American and South American cannabis markets in, you know, more of an ethical way, slower and building sustainable businesses instead of just investing some money on stocks, which is also, you know, if that's what people do, that's all right. But what we've seen in Columbia specifically is if you don't build a sustainable business model in the cannabis space, you're just not going to make it.

7:42It's going to be very difficult in the long term, right? So the industry changes very quickly, and it's very unpredictable. So that's what we're doing together. We're working in other emerging industries, but the firm was born as a cannabis law firm. So we are definitely still exploiting that and understanding how that impacts both our markets. Yeah. All right. So tell us more about the, give us a bit of a state of the union, if you could, for the cannabis industry. My observation kind of talking with folks is that, you know, we've definitely seen a lot of maturing, a lot of settling out. You know, I think for a while there was kind of the Wild West and, you know, with the free market, we're just trying to see, you know, what's going to work.

8:25And then you have every state has, you know, all their individual, you know, laws and nuance and just it's different everywhere. So it's kind of crazy. You obviously you've had a lot of challenges with banking and everything. And man, I hope that that's kind of, you know, settling out a little bit, but I'll let you kind of give us a quick state of the union. Sure, absolutely. So I think the biggest thing is medical cannabis has been recognized for a couple of years now, right? So the World Health Organization recognized it as well. And different countries started to take different postures regarding the legalization of medical cannabis.

9:03What happened in the States was essentially cannabis is still scheduled under a specific list of the substance control act. And what's happening right now, as we speak, is we're seeing hearings to reschedule cannabis to a different list, which is theoretically, you know, more lenient. It's medical, it's purely medical. So it's going to change the game completely. So basically what we have right now in the States is every single state is sort of allowed to regulate as they see fit. Most states have regulated medical cannabis and there's access for patients, there's programs, there's many different challenges and many different barriers, but still there's, you know, a certain infrastructure in place.

9:46And then for adult use, we have some States like say New York, say California, Colorado, who have legalized the adult use of cannabis. And that has brought up a lot of questions with what's happening right now, because the biggest issue is what are we going to do about adult use cannabis? If we as a country decide that medical cannabis is allowed and we are going to treat cannabis as a medical substance, how do we figure out what to do with adult use? It is a very, very tough question. We're still and sure of it because this also brings together a lot of different actors. So this brings together the federal government, the DEA, state governors, of course, applicants and licensed producers, even patients and insurance companies.

10:34So we're seeing a lot of confusion. That's basically what's happening as of today. There's a lot of confusion. Yeah. So we need really smart legal advisors to guide us. Oh, hey, look at that. What a setup. Exactly. Exactly. I should point out, Juliana, that we're, you know, we've in this episode, we were talking about laws in the United States. Do you only work in the United States, Ruddock Law Group? So I am the first international member of the firm and I work in Colombia. So I bring in Colombian clients. In Colombia, medical cannabis is legal. It's been legal for 10 years now. So So there is, you know, production and imports and exports, but adult use is not legal yet.

11:20So what I see in New York is very, very different from what it is at home. It's completely different. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So what are now, are you working with existing brands? Are you working with brands that are trying to break into a market and want to get everything set up correctly? Are you working with, you know, you know, business leaders and owners that, you know, they're just dealing with ongoing regulations? They have ongoing issues. And if so, you know, I'm curious about what the biggest, I'd say, legal stumbling blocks or, you know, just, you know, obstacles that are out there that are unique to the cannabis industry that, you know, just really make it challenging for a rookie or a novice to kind of navigate themselves?

12:13Sure, absolutely. Well, I work with essentially two different types of clients. So there's people who have been in the industry for a while and they're still, you know, building their business model, constantly looking for new clients. And that requires a lot of legal work because we need to make sure that everyone is on the same page. I'll give you a very brief example. If you're exporting cannabis from Colombia to Europe, you need to make sure your European buyer knows what that cannabis is going to be used for because the Colombian government has to know. You cannot export smokable weed, you know, to put it in very simple terms because it is simply not legal.

12:48So those clients require a lot of constant legal work. And then you have the entrepreneurs or anyone who wants to get in the industry. Cannabis is very special because it brings together people who have a very close relationship with either the plant, with either therapeutic solutions that they have not had access to, unfortunately. So it's a very diverse group of individuals who want to participate in the industry. However, again, there's a lot of rules, right? A lot of regulations. And the biggest hurdle is people sometimes, unfortunately, do not have access to that information because it's written by attorneys for attorneys.

13:26Unfortunately, it's not written for entrepreneurs. So I've tried to translate everything that happens in the UN into countries like Colombia, into countries like the United States, and how that affects my specific clients. And that takes a while. It takes a few months to understand. But the biggest thing is understanding that medical is not the same as adult use. As simple as that sounds, it really is not. So I think the lack of information is definitely a big hurdle for cannabis entrepreneurs. Last question before I get a little specific on where folks go from here. Where do you see the future headed over the next five years and beyond?

14:10Any speculation? It's very difficult because everyone speculates that cannabis will eventually be legalized in the entire world. And we never see that happen, unfortunately, just because I would advocate always for the safety of patients and users. but to be completely honest with you what I expect to see in the next few years is more of a regularization of current industries and current businesses so access to banking as you mentioned was and has been the challenge for many many years now we expect to see banks becoming more open as the federal government in the states pronounces itself and you know expands its regulations or changes its regulations because that's one of the biggest hurdles so what I would expect to see is you, when you think about cannabis, you think about, you know, a very different industry, a very different scope.

15:01What I want to see is cannabis being the same as food and beverages, alcohol, or, you know, industries that are highly regulated, but have a longstanding name in different countries in the world. So I would expect cannabis to become your everyday industry, your everyday plant. That's going to take years, but I hope that happens soon. Yeah. You know, and again, you know, folks might be curious about my positivity about the topic. I love that. You know, listen, I, you know, I just, I come a military veteran, a lot of friends that, you know, have dealt with PTSD, a lot of friends that, you know, you know, they're former kind of like, they would call themselves alcoholics.

15:46and, you know, they've been able to shift and, you know, cannabis, I think in its right place, you know, really fulfills and helps a lot of good people. So now, Juliana, your website is RuddickLawGroup.com. To our friend that's been listening, how can you help them out? What do they do? Where do they go? What would you recommend their next steps be? Sure. So you can always schedule a call on our website and I will always offer a complimentary call. First one's on me always. So feel free to reach out. You can also reach out to me on LinkedIn. I'm pretty active on LinkedIn and I'll make sure to share that.

16:26I'll link alongside with this episode. But if you go to our website, definitely book a call with me and I'll be happy to help. I love it. You know, it's fascinating is you have like your team of attorneys are all female. yes we are am i seeing that correctly yes it's a female powerhouse yes wow yeah you guys look like badasses thank you so much yes i like to think we are i'm still uh the new kid in school so i'm still actually intimidated by lauren and all my attorney friends from new york but it's an amazing experience uh everyone comes to us at events and says i want to work with you like where do i apply for a job at the Rotic Law Group.

17:09So it's been an amazing experience. Yeah. So on your website, I see you got, you know, individual strategy consultations, and then you've got, what I like is you've got, you know, you've got plans. I mean, they're just, you know, kind of productized plans, which I got to tell you, as a consumer of legal services, I really appreciate. I really love that model so much more than the old school model of like, how much is this going to cost? It's like, oh, you'll find out. We're actually trying to steer away from the hourly model because we know it's uncomfortable for clients and it's a pain for everyone.

17:42Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Love it. Well, Juliana Salazar, your website, RuddickLawGroup.com. How do people, if someone wants to get in touch with you personally, what would you recommend? Definitely book the call. Definitely book the consultation. It's a 30 minute free consultation with me. So if there's any, you know, any other area of interest you have with another attorney, we can also make that happen. But if you want to speak with me personally, I will be glad to offer you my first free consultation. Love it. Awesome. All right. Well, again, Juliana Salazar of counsel for Ruddock Law Group on the web at ruddocklawgroup.com.

18:19Juliana, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you so much for having me, Josh. Have a good one.

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