Tilray CEO: The United States Represents a "$100 Billion Opportunity in Cannabis."

During an interview on Yahoo Finance Live, Tilray CEO Irwin Simon described the United States as a "$100 billion opportunity in cannabis,". Additionally, traditional companies such as "Nestles and Unilevers" will seek to enter the cannabis space "because they know Gen-Z, millennials, that's very much what they want."

"When it comes to cannabis in the United States today, 93% of Americans want medicinal cannabis authorized, and 63% to 65% desire adult usage." It is now legal in around 33 states and the District of Columbia. So it's out there that most Americans want cannabis to be legalized." — Simon on Yahoo Finance Live.

Simon stated that the cannabis sector had "contributed around $20 billion in taxes, over 150,000 employment, [and] about $6 billion in infrastructure" in Canada, where Tilray now operates.

Curaleaf CEO Matt Darin told Yahoo Finance that the company, one of the largest in the United States, is "extremely pleased by what's coming out of Washington, D.C." currently."

"Sensible changes have never had more bipartisan backing," he remarked.

The United States Senate submitted a cannabis legalization bill in July that would legalize cannabis nationwide and enable states to choose their own regulations. Still, the plan has a difficult path in the chamber, where filibuster rules need legislation to pass with 60 votes. Democrats have a one-vote lead since Vice President Kamala Harris is the tie-breaking 51st vote. Still, numerous Democrats, including Senators Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Joe Manchin (W.V.), and Bob Casey (P.A.), may oppose the revisions.

The House has twice passed a cannabis legalization measure, known as the MORE Act, but the Senate has never voted on it.

Tilray CEO Irwin Simon joins Yahoo Finance Live anchors Julie Hyman and Brian Sozzi to discuss earnings, cannabis legalization, and the outlook for the market for marijuana.