– Company advocates for commonsense reform in pivotal moment for U.S. cannabis industry –
– One of the largest cannabis growers in the world, Village Farms was the only operator selected to participate –
ORLANDO, Fla. and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 04, 2024 — Village Farms International, Inc. (“Village Farms” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: VFF) today announced it was one of 25 participants selected to participate in the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) upcoming Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) hearing regarding the proposed rescheduling of marijuana in the United States from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act (the “Rescheduling Hearing”). Village Farms was the only cannabis industry operator selected to participate in the Rescheduling Hearing, which is currently expected to take place sometime in January or February 2025.
President and Chief Executive Officer Michael DeGiglio commented, “As a U.S.-based company with 35 years of experience in controlled environment agriculture, we are proud to advocate for what we believe is one of the most important movements in health and wellness in our lifetime. The benefits of regulated cannabis are being increasingly embraced by other countries across the globe, many of which are doing so with pragmatic approaches that prioritize the wellbeing of people above politics and the power of special interests. It is long overdue for U.S. policy makers to accept the majority will of the American public and enact commonsense reform that fixes the broken system of criminalization we have today.”
Village Farms’ Global Cannabis General Counsel, Dr. John Harloe, will represent the Company as a selected witness at the Rescheduling Hearing. Dr. Harloe and Shane Pennington, who serves as external counsel to the Company as a partner at Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, LLP, share a common interest in advancing effective cannabis policy in the United States. Mr. Pennington has published extensively on topics related to administrative law and drug policy, including the private nondelegation doctrine, the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, judicial deference to administrative agencies, and bureaucratic management and the limits of presidential power.
Dr. John Harloe concluded, “I am honored to represent Village Farms as the only cannabis industry operator selected to participate, and look forward to the opportunity to share our perspective and insight during this pivotal moment for our industry. We are one of the largest growers of cannabis in the world, and our teams have been intricately involved as subject matter experts in the legalization process with regulators in the State of Colorado and the government of Canada. Our participation at this hearing can shine a bright light on the positive economic, medical, and social impacts that a properly-regulated cannabis industry can have in the United States.”
Dr. John Harloe received his PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology from Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, where he spent five years researching cannabinoids and the human endocannabinoid system. He is a member of the State Bars of Colorado, Texas, and Oregon, as well as the National Cannabis Bar Association, and is Vice Chair of the American Bar Association Cannabis Law and Policy Committee. In 2023, he was appointed by the Governor to Colorado’s Institute of Cannabis Research Governing Board and is a member of the International Cannabinoid Research Society. He previously sat on the SB 22-205 Task Force to advise the Colorado legislature on intoxicating hemp and THC products and the Colorado Hemp Advancement and Management Plan.
About Village Farms International
Village Farms leverages decades of experience as a large-scale, Controlled Environment Agriculture-based, vertically integrated supplier for high-value, high-growth plant-based Consumer Packaged Goods opportunities, with a strong foundation as the leading and longest-tenured fresh produce supplier to grocery and large-format retailers throughout the US and Canada, and new high-growth opportunities in the cannabis and CBD categories in North America, the Netherlands and selected markets internationally.
In Canada, the Company’s wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary, Pure Sunfarms, is one of the single largest cannabis operations in the world, the lowest-cost greenhouse producer and one of Canada’s best-selling brands. The Company also owns 80% of Québec-based, Rose LifeScience, a leading third-party cannabis products commercialization expert in the Province of Québec.
Internationally, Village Farms is targeting selected, nascent, legal cannabis and CBD opportunities with significant medium- and long-term potential. The Company exports medical cannabis from its EU GMP certified facility in Canada to a growing list of international markets including Germany, the United Kingdom, Israel, and Australia. The Company is expanding its international presence with additional export contracts to new countries and customers in the Asia-Pacific and European regions, as well as select strategic investments in operating assets. In Europe, wholly-owned Leli Holland has one of 10 licences to grow and distribute recreational cannabis products in the Netherlands.
In the US, wholly-owned Balanced Health Botanicals is one of the leading CBD brands and e-commerce platforms in the country. Subject to compliance with all applicable US federal and state laws and stock exchange rules, Village Farms plans to enter the US high-THC cannabis market via multiple strategies, leveraging one of the largest greenhouse operations in the country (more than 5.5 million square feet in West Texas), as well as the operational and product expertise gained through Pure Sunfarms’ cannabis success in Canada.
Village Farms Clean Energy (VFCE), through a partnership with Atlanta-based Terreva Renewables, creates clean energy from landfill gas at its Delta RNG facility. VFCE receives royalties on all revenue generated. This partnership reduces Vancouver’s greenhouse gas emissions by 475,000 metric tons of CO2 per year, equivalent to removing more than 100,000 vehicles off the road or the energy use equivalent of powering 51,300 homes for one year.
