by Bridget Hennessey, Vice President- Public Affairs at Weedmaps

In politics, it’s called an “October Surprise” — a super-newsworthy planned or organic event or announcement juicy enough to influence the election scheduled for the following month.

On Thursday, President Joe Biden delivered a doozy. Without the usual advance notice to news media, or leak to a friendly columnist, the president announced that he pardoned about 6500 individuals previously convicted of a federal non-violent cannabis possession charge. He pardoned thousands more convicted in Washington, DC as well. Recognizing that his authority only goes so far, and that the majority of these type of convictions are in the states, he’s urged governors to take similar action.

He also directed Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra to evaluate if cannabis (currently a “Schedule 1” drug) is appropriately scheduled on the List of Controlled Substances. Other Schedule 1 drugs include heroin and LSD and are considered to have no acceptable medical use.

So it looks like President Biden is moving to legalize cannabis at the federal level–meaning that soon, cannabis will be legal across the country, not just some states, right?

Not so fast. Really. There is nothing fast-moving here. De-scheduling cannabis would be a lengthy process, likely years. Clinical trials and other lengthy research would be required. And even international treaties we have with other countries would undergo painstaking review and scrutiny. Some may have to be renegotiated to move cannabis up to Schedule 2. And that doesn’t equal federal legalization.

Legalization? There is nothing in the President’s Executive Order that addresses the SAFE Banking Act or allows cannabis businesses to access banking, something every other business in the US has easy access to. His actions don’t fix the 280E tax problem, or any tax problem facing the cannabis industry for that matter. Interstate commerce? Advertising? Medical research? Nope. Nope. And nope.

So all sizzle and no steak? Well, not exactly.

The pardons are significant and lift the debilitating housing, employment and education burdens and devastating social stigma that have plagued too many Americans as the result of an unjust criminal record.

Calling on governors to do likewise is a logical force-multiplier. It’s also a brilliant political strategy. The White House knows which governors will run to and embrace his request. And they know which governors will run away from it–whether they use the excuse that their state does not grant them such authority, or that they simply disagree and won’t do it. Lines in the sand can be useful come Election Day.

Although he is not on any ballot next month, I’d argue that the president is always on the ballot. His coattails can offer a boost to the candidates that are running. However, President Biden has never been a big fan of cannabis. It wasn’t an issue he highlighted on the campaign trail, or pushed to advance legislation once he got to the White House. But poll after poll shows that an overwhelming percentage of Americans support cannabis legalization for both medical and adult use.

The old saying goes: If the time isn’t ripe, you must ripen the time. The time is exactly ripe for Biden to do this.

Addressing cannabis’ classification as a Schedule 1 drug–similar to heroin and LSD and with no medical benefit–is long overdue. This classification is untrue, idiotic and an embarrassment for the United States in the eyes of the global medical community. The fact that thirty-seven states have legalized cannabis for medical use and 19 states have legalized it for adult-use underscores the point beautifully.

And mostly overlooked by the pundits and news media today–President Biden has signaled that the era of ‘Reefer Madness’ is over. Cannabis businesses are real businesses that provide good jobs and make positive contributions to the local and national economy. He is showing the industry respect. He’s given the industry legitimacy.

Surprise or steak? I will take either.

Bridget Hennessey is Vice President of Public Affairs at Weedmaps, the technology platform powering the global cannabis industry.

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by Keegan Gendron, Policy Research Associate- Public Affairs at Weedmaps

“If the hideous monster Frankenstein came face to face with the monster of marijuana he would drop dead of fright.” — Harry J. Anslinger.

Mr. Anslinger, the infamous father of cannabis prohibition, ignited an era of ignorance, fear-mongering, and injustice with his notorious role at the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. Together with future like-minded prohibitionists like Presidents Nixon and Reagan, Anslinger and his allies transformed the American psyche: provoking terror, inflaming racist tropes, and using outright deception to drive a rift between society and cannabis — a plant that has been alongside civilizations for millennia.

Fortunately, the era of “Reefer Madness” and “devil’s lettuce” is ending; citizens are clearing the mist of government-sponsored disinformation, and the political motivations behind prohibition are now more apparent than ever. Today, an overwhelming majority of Americans live in a state where cannabis is legal in some form, with 19 states having legalized cannabis for adult-use, and many more recognizing its medicinal value. There is no doubt that those who choose to remain in the Plato-esque cave of prohibition are choosing to be detached from reality.

Even with growing social acceptance of the plant in recent years, publicly associating oneself with cannabis is difficult for many and impossible for others. Despite the rapidly-accelerating legalization movement, cannabis continues to carry a lot of baggage with respect to employment, social norms, and stereotypes. Much of the nation’s workforce can still be fired and discriminated against for cannabis use — even for doctor-approved medical applications. Entrepreneurs and professionals are currently building legal cannabis business empires, but simply cross a state border and that entrepreneurial spirit quickly becomes a criminal conspiracy. Even with a supermajority of support across America, cannabis consumers are often portrayed as lazy and unintelligent. Further, an individual’s support for legalization does not preclude any stereotypes they may hold regarding cannabis use.

Aside from factual inaccuracies, negative stereotypes for cannabis disregard personal responsibility and autonomy. These stigmas simply blame a flower for any shortcomings that an individual may face — redirecting blame to avoid nuance. To help dispel some stereotypes, and normalize nature, I’d like to share my experience with Anslinger’s “monster of marijuana.” Sharing personal experiences is often uncomfortable, but necessary to move the needle forward. More on that later.

I, like many in my generation, first tried cannabis at an admittedly too-young and immature stage of life, and we had the occasional run-in throughout college. With my curious inclinations, I educated myself about cannabis at a fairly young age and long before I actually used it. I gravitated toward more esoteric aspects of cannabis than most; I developed a keen interest in the plant’s history, its use as a medicine, and its budding re-acceptance in society.

After endless hours of conducting my own research and confronting the bold-faced lies of a society gone wrong (and with a little nudge from legalization in my home state), I detached myself from the myths propagated by the War on Drugs. I soon discovered that with a healthy amount of caution and education, this flower and I got along quite well. Cannabis did not make my brain foggy — it made my thoughts clearer and more abstract. Cannabis did not make me lazy — it made me more introspective and willing to address my flaws. And much to the disappointment of some propagandists, cannabis did not bring me to the edge of psychosis — but it did make me question things. After nearly two decades in a flawed education system, growing up with endless access to technology and social media, and entering my formative young-adult years during a once-in-a-century pandemic and social turmoil, I had a difficult time thinking for myself, or truly thinking at all. Responsible cannabis use changed that — a concept understood by the legendary astronomer Carl Sagan, who viewed cannabis as a tool to “produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world”.

In this respect, cannabis came to me not as a means of detachment, but as a tool for re-engagement. I continue to find myself more self-reflective, better able to focus, and more prone to immerse myself in abstract chains of thought. I’m a lifelong introvert; cannabis has amplified this tendency where it benefits me and dampened it where it hinders me. It sings a sweet lullaby, but when used responsibly and with the right intentions, cannabis can also smack some sense into you. Oh, and all of the commonly-known benefits? Those are nice too.

So, why is any of this relevant? The most profound conclusion I’ve come to after diving into the cannabis world, especially the public policy realm, is that more stories like this need to be shared; stories of personal experience and raw truth that aren’t restrained by dogma and artificial social pressures. There will always be a place for well-mannered debate and public policy discussions — but social acceptance of cannabis, by my assessment, has reached an inflection point. To cross the rubicon, there needs to be a vocal “coming out” among cannabis users, patients, and enthusiasts.

History teaches us that in a properly functioning democracy, widespread changes in social sentiment lead to meaningful public policy reforms, but only when those social changes are transparent, resolved, and loud. Just look to the many civil rights and personal freedom movements over the last century — rooted in courageous social groups and galvanized by key individuals.

While cannabis is currently enjoying some significant attention and reform, it isn’t nearly enough. With less than 10% of Americans believing that cannabis should remain illegal, why does federal criminalization persist? Why are people arrested, fired from their jobs, shamed by friends and family, and stigmatized for something so clearly supported by the masses? Two reasons: our representatives in government have become increasingly detached from public demands and entrenched in partisan bickering and posturing, and because for many people, cannabis is still something to whisper about. To overcome stigmas and translate public opinion into public policy, more of us need to share our personal stories. By increasing awareness of what we have in common, we reject the notion of increasing polarization. Today, the continued illegality of cannabis is purely a symptom of democracy in disarray. Sharing our experiences serves a righteous purpose: to educate, and compel action. As Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”.

As more people openly share their experiences, society at large can be tuned-in to what some might find an uncomfortable truth — that a hell of a lot of people use this little flower. You know them: your grandparents; your mentors; your doctors; and your public servants. The social embrace of cannabis among users and abstainers alike relies on communication, especially from the former. So, I invite you to share in the moment. The path to normalizing nature lies in those of us who might feel apprehensive in sharing our truths — many of us have become captives in our own minds. The ever-flowing social conversation around cannabis can only take the next leap forward if it has vocal, unapologetic advocates. Have the audacity to share your story, even if just with one person. While it may be uncomfortable, embracing discomfort today can encourage change tomorrow.

Keegan Gendron is a Policy Research Associate at Weedmaps, the leading technology provider to the cannabis industry.

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by Kamry Parks, Policy Communications Associate- Public Affairs at Weedmaps

America has two Independence Days: One commemorating America’s freedom from Britain’s rule; the other commemorating the actual end of slavery in the United States.

We know all about the first one. School children across the country are taught that the Declaration of Independence was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.

We know less about the second one.

On June 19th, 1865, two months after the Confederate Army surrendered at Appomattox, Va, Gordon Granger, a Union general, arrived in Galveston, Texas. His mission: to inform a quarter-million still-enslaved Black Americans that the Civil War was over and they were free.

With Granger’s announcement, the Emancipation Proclamation (signed by President Lincoln more than two and a half years earlier) went into effect. Following the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, slavery in the United States was abolished, and on June 19th, 1866, the newly freed Texans celebrated the first “Jubilee Day.” That holiday eventually morphed into what we now know as Juneteenth–a day to celebrate the resiliency of the Black community.

Juneteenth is often marked with the inclusion of the phrase “Until we are all free,” — inspired by the still-enslaved in Galveston, who were among the last to find out about their emancipation.

Juneteenth was elevated in the national consciousness, more recently amid the collective reckoning over police killings and persistent racial inequities. Last year, President Joe Biden made Juneteenth a federal holiday. And since then, in a remarkably short period of time, Juneteenth has become as watered down, commercialized, and trivialized as other Federal Holidays. Labor Day, Memorial Day, and Presidents Day come quickly to mind–an opportunity to sell cars, mattresses, and ice cream.

Juneteenth is not new to the Black community, and for decades has been all about reflection– for descendants of enslaved people to contemplate how far we have come and the work that is unfinished. Sadly, “until we are all free” hasn’t happened yet. Because aspects of slavery still exist: criminalizing non-violent behavior, mass incarceration, and the prison industrial complex are a few examples. Looking at these issues through the lens of cannabis brings them into sharper focus.

In 1971 President Richard Nixon initiated the so-called “war on drugs” as a way to demonize and marginalize Black Americans. In 1986 President Ronald Regan sent in reinforcements. As a result, courts ruled according to “tough on crime” laws. Possession and low-level sale of cannabis crimes were punished with mandatory high sentences–even as much as life. During the “war on drugs,” incarceration became the sole response to crime.

Between 2001 and 2010, there were more than 8 million cannabis-related arrests in our country. Not only was that one arrest every 37 seconds–but a very visible way of disproportionately decimating many Black and Brown communities by ensnaring millions of people in the criminal justice system.

Today, the United States imprisons more people than any other country. In the 1970s, the U.S. prison population was 200,000; today, it is nearly 2 million. Cannabis use is roughly equal among Blacks and whites, but Black people are almost four times more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession/ And while arrests don’t always lead to conviction and imprisonment, the collateral consequences remain. Mass incarceration has become just another set of chains, and no matter how “free” a person becomes, the consequences of a criminal record can follow them for the rest of their lives, restricting their access to employment, housing, education, and other benefits.

Cannabis legalization offers a unique and important opportunity to right some of the most egregious wrongs of the “war on drugs.” Legalization, coupled with retroactive relief measures such as re-sentencing and record clearance, would put an end to the arrest epidemic and remove cannabis from the criminal justice system.

This year, Juneteenth coincides with Father’s Day. While I will be spending the day with my dad, I cannot help but think about the fathers and father figures, grandfathers, brothers, and uncles still in prison for low-level/nonviolent cannabis offenses.

Ironic, isn’t it? People, primarily Black men, are still in prison for what is now legal (and what I do for a living) at some level in 38 states and Washington, DC (both medical and adult-use are legal in 19 of these states). California became the first state to legalize medical cannabis more than 25 years ago. And while I get health benefits, a 401(k), and the chance to build intergenerational wealth, other Black families are still waiting for someone in their life to come home from prison for doing the same work I do.

I hope a June 19th comes their way soon.

—

Kamry Parks is a Policy Communications Associate at Weedmaps, the leading technology provider to the cannabis industry.

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by Bridget Hennessey, Vice President, Public Affairs at Weedmaps

It’s been two weeks since the horrible events at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. But the pain hasn’t subsided. It is almost impossible to think about anything but the young students and teachers senselessly murdered and injured by an 18-year old gunman.

On Tuesday, FOX News host Laura Ingraham announced the real culprit: Cannabis.

To ensure everyone got word, Ms. Ingraham (or in this case, Miss Information) took to social media and tweeted segments from her broadcast. By Wednesday she was “trending” — meaning her tweets were read or mentioned more than others at the time.

We’ve seen this before. Cannabis has been used to demonize Mexican immigrants, jazz music and swing dancing. It has been blamed for interracial dating (when that was against the law) and American involvement in foreign wars.

Ingraham is a particularly enthusiastic disciple of the “blame cannabis” dogma, as it seems to boost her factless credit score. As she did on Tuesday, she often touts passages from her bad cannabis bible: Alex Berenson’s widely discredited book Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana. Berenson is also a regular guest on her show as well as her co-conspirator advancing the idea that cannabis caused Covid-19. In Tuesday’s segment, Miss Information also went after Beto O’Rourke, threats to the second amendment, the war on young white men, clueless medical professionals and “parents doing the pot with their kids.”

But her most vile theme–implied or otherwise–was that cannabis was a factor in the massacre of nineteen young children and their two teachers.

I’m not going to debate Miss Information about the causes of gun violence in the United States because there is nothing to debate. And offending the cannabis industry by playing the blame game is the least of her problems. It is an affront to our humanity to blame cannabis–or any other ridiculous excuse–for what caused the death of children and the adults dedicated to teaching them. I say this as the mother of school age children, a wife, sister, daughter, friend, colleague and citizen of the world. So what I simply want to do here is provide the facts about the cannabis-related statements made during Ingraham’s broadcast.

There is no evidence that cannabis causes psychosis. THC–the psychoactive compound in cannabis–affects individuals differently. Medical patients and military veterans in 37 states across the country rely on cannabis to treat a number of serious health conditions. And millions of responsible adult consumers in nineteen states use cannabis for a wide variety of wellness purposes.

Cannabis products currently on the market are not significantly more potent than “Woodstock Weed.” The modest rise in THC levels of products today can likely be attributed to increased demand for higher THC cannabis, as well as cultivation and manufacturing improvements.

After legalization, hospitalizations actually decreased in Colorado (where Ingraham’s guest stated colleagues are “sounding the alarms… it’s practically a daily occurrence that kids come into emergency rooms from cannabis-induced psychosis”). Youth usage has actually decreased in Colorado too. The State issued a report stating as such.

The sky doesn’t fall when a dispensary opens. To the contrary, crime actually goes down and property values go up. And claims made by both Ingraham and her guest regarding traffic fatalities were unsubstantiated. Several studies show that impaired driving rates are unaffected after legalization, and in some cases may even decrease in states with legal cannabis.

Trend that, Laura Ingraham.

Bridget Hennessey is a Vice President at Weedmaps, the leading technology provider to the cannabis industry. She heads the company’s Public Affairs Department.

by Thanh To, Grassroots/Advocacy Campaign Associate- Public Affairs at Weedmaps

After the Vietnam War, nearly 2 million Vietnamese “boat people” — including my parents — risked their lives to flee from political persecution and oppression with aspirations of finding freedom in a foreign land. Unsure of what was ahead, they relied on stories of hope, survival, and resilience from other refugees and the promise of a more stable life in the land of the free.

As a product of this political persecution, I’ve never taken the word “freedom” lightly. And growing up in a traditional Asian household, I didn’t have much of it compared to my peers. I was always sternly told to stay inside the lines — just work hard, follow the rules, and stay humble — something my fellow Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) can probably relate to. We were taught to strive for a quiet life…because a quiet life is still better than the lives full of hardships that our parents came from.

So it’s not surprising that when I was growing up, cannabis was a big no-no in our house. I grew up in the United States when it was raging a “War on Drugs.” The first time I learned about “marijuana” (see blog here about the racist origins of the word) was through the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) Program. Cannabis’ misconceptions became our truth. If Uncle Sam gave us this new life full of freedom and opportunities, what reasons does he have to lie to us about cannabis?

The intent of those policies and programs wasn’t malicious, just misguided and misinformed. However, these social and political attitudes towards cannabis have contributed greatly to the worldwide stigmatization of the plant that we continue to experience today. Once I started educating myself, I realized that the worst thing about cannabis was the policies around it. Policies that were oftentimes created by people who grew up in the “Just Say No” era and continue to say “no” to this day despite support for cannabis legalization at an all-time high.

AAPI Heritage month reminds me of the struggles and sacrifices my parents made. But it is also a call to better our communities by advocating for what is right. That’s why cannabis, to me, is synonymous with my own personal freedom. It represents the ability to make my own decisions despite growing up in a traditional immigrant household and despite “authorities” constantly telling me that this plant would lead me down the primrose path.

As the worldwide acceptance of cannabis grows, most of Asia continues to treat it as an extremely taboo subject. Thailand is by far one of the most progressive countries in Asia that allow the medicinal use of cannabis. However, possessing cannabis in places like Singapore, the Philippines, or Indonesia can result in the death penalty. That’s a big reason why these negative perceptions are so ingrained into Asian culture and passed down generation to generation.

It’s ironic. Asia is known for plant medicine as part of its holistic approach to well-being. In fact, cannabis was a big part of ancient Chinese pharmacology thousands of years ago. Growing up I never took Tylenol or Advil. Instead, my parents gave me a shot of green sludge to help with a stomach ache or a whiff of medicated oil to help with my sinuses. Yet when it comes to cannabis, one of the most medically versatile plants in the world, Asia and much of the AAPI community, refuses to open up to the issue. I don’t believe that we can shift that narrative in society without first changing the attitudes within our own households.

Now this is where it gets personal. The same parents who risked their lives for the American Dream were both diagnosed with terminal illnesses decades later. I saw them routinely take the pharmaceuticals the doctors prescribed but the pain didn’t go away. Cannabis for medical purposes has been legal in California since 1996 but that means little in Asian culture. During both my parents’ illnesses, I tried to persuade them to give cannabis a chance but the cultural attitudes towards it were too strong. That breaks my heart. Because I know now that cannabis could have alleviated their pain and given them a better quality of life. Things that are indispensable when you are racing against the clock.

The AAPI community has an opportunity and responsibility to destigmatize cannabis. The community doesn’t have a great understanding of the plant because they’ve never been exposed to accurate, unbiased cannabis information. The only way to end those longstanding cultural barriers is by providing them with access to education and to start bridging the gap between generations by having those difficult conversations and changing the way they perceive cannabis. Eradicating the stigma about cannabis and ensuring that my community reaps the medical benefits of the plant will always be my passion.

As a member of the WM Policy team, it’s not lost on me that a first-generation Vietnamese American, whose first language wasn’t English, is now playing a role in shaping cannabis policy. As the acceptance of cannabis grows within the community, AAPI representation within the industry must follow — as cannabis business professionals, thought leaders, and community activists. There is an opportunity for us to continue to preserve our rich cultures and traditions but to also break molds and push boundaries to present new ways of thinking. The goal is to equip the AAPI community with education and allow them to make a decision that is best suited for themselves because ultimately that’s what freedom is all about. Cannabis will undoubtedly be a difficult conversation for many traditional Asian households. But as with many in the AAPI community, enduring difficult situations in hopes of something better is an experience that is not unfamiliar to us. And like my parent’s experience, it is a risk worth taking.

Thanh To is a Grassroots/Advocacy Campaign Associate at Weedmaps, the leading technology provider to the cannabis industry.

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by Bridget Hennessey, Vice President, Public Affairs at Weedmaps

I will admit, it’s “been a minute” as my kids would say, since I got excited about a cannabis conference.

Don’t get me wrong. These gatherings are important, useful, impactful and worthwhile. I am not saying otherwise. Perhaps I’m suffering from “conference fatigue.” I’ve lost count of how many cannabis conferences I’ve attended, participated in or helped organize. And that doesn’t include the panel discussions and workshops at non-cannabis conferences with a cannabis-related focus or theme, or a cannabis “track.”

And then, last week I flew across the country to attend Regenerative Cannabis Live, in New York. My faith in cannabis conferences was reignited.

Being in New York contributed to the change of heart. There is an obvious and palatable excitement and energy about legal cannabis in the Empire State. I’m optimistic about what Governor Kathy Hochul is doing on the regulatory front. And we can’t help but expect innovation, creativity and the buzzwords du jour “thought leadership” from New York-based cannabis brands, ancillary businesses, and trade and professional organizations. I’m not picking favorites. The west coast cannabis community has the history and OG title, that’s for sure. But since I returned from the conference, I occasionally find myself humming an Alicia Keys song.

As legalization matures among the West Coast states, a flush of legalization is happening concurently on the East Coast. National public opinion on cannabis has gained record support in all demographics. As a result, we are beginning to see a less state-by-state attitude about cannabis-related issues. An “American Cannabis” frame of mind is unfolding. So the Regenerative Cannabis Live conference couldn’t have happened at a better time.

Themed “Sustainable Development for and by the Cannabis & Hemp Industry ‘’ the conference was held at the United Nations. Although this was not an official United Nations event, the conference organizers smartly chose to develop the sessions around the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. I was initially leary. UN activities sometimes feel like a global high school debate society–with prepared, previously reviewed and approved statements and talking points that should be called “talking at points.” But give them this: no one does “frameworks” better than the UN.

That’s something that has been lacking at other cannabis conferences: We need a better (i.e. more inclusive) way to frame conversations, and for disparate voices to not only have a seat at the table, but more importantly, for their voices to carry the same weight as their tablemates.

The conference also presented hemp and issues related to hemp on equal footing with cannabis, instead of acting like hemp was an afterthought. Words like “synergy” and “cross sectionality” often cause my eyes to roll. They weren’t necessarily a part of the conference vocabulary, but what those words mean or represent certainly was. Cannabis issues are quintessentially inter-related within and outside of the cannabis industry in so many ways.

The holistic perspective that the conference was organized around was more than refreshing, it was required. That’s because other countries view cannabis more holistically than we do. They see cannabis as a means to accomplish both economic and sustainability goals. For them, cannabis is both an economic driver and a sustainability solution. That’s not always how it is here. In the US, we have a disjointed, siloed view of cannabis and the industry. We view, regulate and even organize conferences in that way. Case in point: cannabis and hemp. They are the same plant. But if you didn’t already know that, you probably never would, based on how we talk and regulate them.

That’s not really surprising, as legalization in the United States is a “patchwork of policy” and non-legal states resist looking to legal states as “been there, done that” laboratories of best practices–what works and what doesn’t.

We can’t excuse away our nearsightedness solely on the lack of federal legalization. There are many other factors at play. My interactions with the delegates from Paraguay and Malta, for example, opened my eyes to that. They are small countries compared to ours, but their experiences, successes and challenges are not as unique as we too often think. We (the US) still have a lot to learn about cannabis, and we must include other countries as our teachers.

But I think what influenced my cheerleading of this conference most, what I enjoyed most, what energized and inspired me most was the representation of women. And as a result, this conference was visibly and experientially different–in the best sense possible.

We’ve learned, at least I hope we have, that the audience doesn’t burst into flames if the keynote speaker is a woman. To no one’s surprise, the earth doesn’t open and swallow up the stage if the participants of a panel discussion happen to be all female. So can we just finally agree that more women involved in a discussion means a better discussion? Women and men are . . . different. So it should not come as a shock–or be perceived as a knock (on anyone) — that they communicate differently. And that difference was on full display at this conference. The conversations and presentations were markedly more thoughtful and intentional than most others I’ve heard. Yes, I know. That’s nice. But they were also markedly more solution-oriented. That’s important and useful.

I have to give fan girl shout outs to conference speakers Sandra Carillo, a professor at Panama University; Patricia Villela Marino, President of Humanitas360; and Giadha Decarcer, founder and executive chair of New Frontier Data. Their presentations were outstanding.

Haven’t heard of them? That’s okay.

Give it a minute.

Bridget Hennessey is a Vice President at Weedmaps, the leading technology provider to the cannabis industry. She heads the company’s Public Affairs Department.

Happy Four Twenty–the U.S. cannabis industry’s unofficial “day.”

The meaning behind 420 is as simple as it is complex. It is both pinpointedly specific and vastly broad. Local and universal. If “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere” is the call to arms for the cocktail crowd, “It’s 4:20 p.m. everywhere” might be the counter from cannabis connoisseurs.

420 has a quintessential cannabis origin–youthful, slightly outlaw, mildly clandestine. California centric. And as usual, ultimately involves The Grateful Dead.

Historians trace the 420 phenomenon to 1971 and a group of high school friends from San Francisco’s North Bay area who coined it as a secret meeting code (“after sports practice”). From there, they’d plan their search for a cannabis trove supposedly planted in the area. Through personal and professional relationships the friends had with members of the Grateful Dead, 420 was introduced to more people and caught on vis-a-vis a notoriously eclectic touring rock band.

Since then, 420 has become synonymous with celebrating all things cannabis–the history, the people and their power, and all the politics of the plant. It should come as no surprise that 4/20 and 4:20 have been unofficially designated as the day and time to celebrate.

The LGBTQ+ community is integral to everything that 420 is about. We have played a significant role in patients’ and mainstream medicine’s acceptance of cannabis as legitimate medicine, and over the past decade have been a critical element in the successive legalization wins in states across the country.

LGBTQ+ history intersects in many ways with cannabis legalization activism, and historic moments of cannabis legalization have been made by queer people.

Both communities also share a powerful and effective tool — the act of coming out — to change hearts and minds.

And most notably, it was a member of our community, working to save the lives of our community, that created the first of what is now nearly 8,000 medical and adult-use cannabis dispensaries in the United States. Yes, there is plenty of LGBTQ+/420 stuff for us to get excited about.

But the story of the first medical cannabis dispensary in the United States is probably among the most important.

In March of 2020, state governments across the U.S. began to shutter businesses in an attempt to limit the spread of COVID-19. Governors of both parties in states with medical cannabis programs deemed dispensaries essential and kept them open, just like pharmacies. The message was clear. Cannabis is medicine.

The coronavirus pandemic provided cannabis with its medical legitimacy. But it was the AIDS pandemic some thirty years before that gave us a glimpse of cannabis’s tremendous medical benefits.

Americans were introduced to AIDS in July 1981 when The New York Times reported a “Rare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals.” In its early days, an AIDS diagnosis was nothing less than a death sentence. The disease melted flesh from bone and robbed victims of their sight, their memory, and too often, their dignity.

The medications used to treat AIDS at that time seemed toxic — the side effects were often as unbearable as the virus itself. But there was something that countered those powerful side effects and provided immense relief: cannabis. It quelled the incessant nausea, soothed the pain that felt like darts shooting out from inside the skin. It stimulated appetite, and subdued anxiety.

But that didn’t mean that it was easy for AIDS patients to get it. Denis Peron — who had been selling cannabis illegally for 20 years — decided it was time to ensure that the people needing cannabis should not risk arrest. He threw himself into legalization, starting with “Proposition P” — the referendum effectively decriminalized growing, selling and using small amounts of cannabis for medical purposes within San Francisco’s city limits. Eighty percent of residents voted in favor of it in 1991.

Soon afterward, Peron opened something of a dispensary and smoking lounge in a one-bedroom apartment in the Castro. Members quickly outgrew the rooms. The San Francisco Cannabis Buyers Club (SFCBC ) moved two more times to larger spaces in the Castro. Each time, the SFCBC accommodated more patients and filled the community’s acute needs. The dispensary expanded to include edibles and tinctures, for example, and progressive politics entered the mix. Through all that change, Peron worked on legislation that would make medical cannabis legal in all of California, not just San Francisco. California became the first state to allow medicinal cannabis use when voters passed the Compassionate Use Act in 1996. Cannabis is now legal in California for both medicinal and adult use.

Peron died in 2018. Today, the entire U.S. cannabis industry is worth $61 billion, with medical cannabis making up almost $17 billion. Medical cannabis is forecasted to be worth more than $46 billion by 2027. And to think, it all started by a gay man, in a “gayborhood”, to help other gay men who were dying of what was then called a “gay cancer.”

We probably don’t think of Dennis Peron when we walk into our cannabis dispensary in California, Illinois, Colorado or the additional 35 states across the country that allow safe, reliable and regulated medical cannabis to people who need it.

And maybe today, the “stoner’s holiday,” is the day we start.

Fran Hutchins is Executive Director of the Equality Federation, an advocacy accelerator for state-based LGBTQ+ organizations. Carl Fillichio is a vice president at Weedmaps, the tech platform powering the global cannabis industry.

by Bridget Hennessey, Vice President, Government Relations at Weedmaps

Every holiday has traditions. Even Halloween. In our house, you can bet on my kids coming up with clever and unusual ideas for costumes (my 10-year old is going as Sophia from “The Golden Girls”) . . but at the very last possible minute, so there’s also the tradition of the mad scramble to actually create it. A 24-hour limit — which starts the moment they wake up on Halloween morning — to enjoy their haul before it all gets thrown away is one of my favorite Halloween traditions. My kids aren’t crazy about that one.

And across the country, there’s another Halloween tradition: Bogus warnings about cannabis-infused candy making its way into trick or treat bags.

Inspecting my kids’ end-of-the-night bounty is certainly an important tradition for me, as it is for most parents. But I am more likely to find a live lizard in my 8-year old son’s plastic pumpkin (yes, that happened) and dirty, unwrapped candy (he’ll eat it if I don’t get it first) than I am to find THC filled gummy bears.

But you would never know that from the barrage of scare your pants off reporting from some local news media.

Take for example the tweet from Jaclyn Lee, a TV reporter from the ABC affiliate in Philadelphia: “@BensalemPolice are warning parents to LOOK at your child’s candy before they eat it. They confiscated these snacks that look a lot like the real thing. All are laced with THC.”

There is a lot to unpack here. The items shown in Lee’s tweet are legal, adult-use products, and are clearly marked as cannabis edibles (a cannabis leaf and THC level on the package, as well as the warning label required by the state of California). Saying that these products are “laced” with THC is like saying candy is “laced” with sugar.

But most concerning: There is no credible reason or even an indication that would lead anyone to believe that the edibles confiscated by the Bensalem police were intended to be given to trick or treating kids. And curiously, it appears that the original tweet has been removed from the police department’s Twitter account.

So how did we get here?

According to news reports, it all started when police pulled over a car for expired tags.

The driver, a 20 year old Philadelphia resident was caught with “50 pieces of THC edibles packaged to closely resemble popular candy and snack foods.” The driver told the police that he got the infused edibles from California and intended to sell them in Philadelphia. Nobody said anything about Halloween.

Today it is “doped Doritos.” When I was a kid, it was all about razor blades in apples. The thing is, none of that ever actually happened. There are no documented case of kids tricked into consuming cannabis because they were given it as a Halloween treat. There is also no documented case about the razor blades in apples either.

A few media outlets have debunked these urban legends throughout the years. Sadly, hundreds more continue to perpetuate this nonsense. I get it. It makes for good television. But it’s a false stereotype that legalization advocates must battle every single day, not just on one holiday. And let’s face it, a battle of facts is hard enough. But battling untrue scare tactics involving 5-year olds dressed as Tinkerbell is an often unwinnable war.

But things are beginning to change. As the momentum of legalization continues across the country, cannabis truths are emerging — enabling advocates to fight fiction with fact.

Ways to affect change are, well . . . changing. Late night talk shows, for example, yield tremendous power beyond pop culture — especially when they call out hypocrisy and stupidity peddled by mainstream media.

And Halloween is changing. More and more of the traditional trick or treating is happening during the day — at school — and less at night throughout the neighborhoods. Kids are going to retirement communities and convalescent homes in costumes, cheering up the residents and adding a “do good” element to the holiday.

Something else: candy is losing its lustre as the go-to treat to give youngsters on Halloween. The less candy, the less concern (real or imagined) about tainted candy. This year, I will likely find more decals, erasers, crayons, nickels and dimes, and other non-candy items among my goblin’s loot.

Swapping junk food for just junk is a Halloween tradition I’m very much looking forward to. The 24 hour tradition will still apply.

Bridget Hennessey is a Vice President at Weedmaps, the leading technology provider to the cannabis industry. She heads the company’s Government Relations Department.

by Carl Fillichio, Vice President at Weedmaps

I’ve been talking to my older brother Christopher a lot more lately…ever since I got a job related to the cannabis industry. He is passionate about the subject.

Aside from sharing a surname, we haven’t had much in common of late. The last time we were this close and talked this often, I called him Batman and he called me Robin. That was more than 50 years ago.

Cannabis does that. It brings people together.

When we were growing up, Chris was the coolest kid in the neighborhood. So cool in fact that one of the neighborhood boys would actually chauffeur him around on a tandem bicycle — Chris on the back of the two seater, with his legs hanging off the handlebars; and the other boy, feverishly peddling from the front. Eighteen months younger, I was geeky, gawky and awkward. But kids never bullied or bothered me. If they knew me, they knew Chris. Enough said. And if someone was actually foolish enough to make trouble for me, Chris would “take care of it.”

As a straight ally, our community doesn’t have a better one in my brother. “Isn’t that great,” he’ll say when he hears that a childhood friend or neighbor has come out. And if that person has a family member who doesn’t think it’s great, Chris will likely say something like: “I see her father at the gym all the time. I’ll take care of it.”

During a recent, every-other-day, hour-long phone call, Chris didn’t say, “Not much” when I asked: “What’s new?”

“I needed to get a document notarized,” he explained. “When the notary asked for my government-issued identification, instead of my drivers license, I showed my State of Florida Medical Marijuana Use Registry card.”

“At first he refused to take it. We got into a thirty-minute debate about medical marijuana. Long story short — I got the document notarized, and the notary is going to check with his doctor to see if medical marijuana might be a good treatment for his arthritis.”

He’s doing this all the time now, he said. He actually seeks opportunities that require presenting government-issued identification — like using a check instead of a credit card to pay for groceries at the supermarket. He pulls out his medical card instead.

“I make them say no. And then I don’t accept it,” he said, almost defiantly.

“Congratulations.” I replied. “You came out.”

“Wait. What?” he said. “I don’t say I’m gay. I just tell them I’m a medical cannabis patient. That’s all. You don’t ‘come out’ at Trader Joe’s.”

Yeah, Chris, sometimes you do.

Changing Hearts & Minds

Cannabis has always been wherever outsiders are. As a result, the cannabis legalization movement and the LGBTQ rights movement share some history. Both started in earnest around the same time. The first cannabis dispensary in the United States was founded by a gay man, Dennis Peron, in a gay neighborhood, San Fransisco’s Castro District, specifically for the predominately gay men suffering the debilitating side effects of AIDS medications during the first years of the pandemic.

Whether viewed through the lens of privacy or individual rights, the LGBTQ community has played a critical role in the history of cannabis legalization. It will continue to do so in its future.

And something else: as my brother learned, both the LGBTQ rights movement and the cannabis legalization movement use the powerful act of “coming out” as an effective tool to change hearts and minds.

“Both the LGBTQ rights movement and the cannabis legalization movement use the powerful act of “coming out” as a tool to change hearts and minds.”

For LGBTQ folks, “coming out” means self-disclosure of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The 19th-century German philosopher Karl Heinrich Ulrichs introduced the idea of coming out as a means of emancipation. Historians believe he was among the earliest individuals to out himself.

The value and benefits of coming out for an LGBTQ individual and for the LGBTQ community are immeasurable. Harvey Milk, the gay American politician assassinated in 1987 said it best: “I would like to see every gay doctor come out, every gay lawyer, every gay architect come out, stand up and let that world know,” Milk said. “That would do more to end prejudice overnight than anybody would imagine. I urge them to do that, urge them to come out. Only that way will we start to achieve our rights.” He added: “And you will feel a lot better.”

“For legislators to be really moved about legalization,” my colleague Bridget Hennessey — who leads Weedmaps’ Government Relations department — has said, “we must put a human face on the issue. Real people telling real stories.” Those are the heroes of the legal cannabis movement — the patients and users who disclose: the veteran suffering from symptoms of PTSD; the grandfather recently diagnosed with diabetes; the mother treating her child’s epilepsy in consultation with doctors using medical grade cannabinoid oil.

The Ups and Downs. The Ins and Outs.

For individuals from both communities, coming out reveals to the world their whole and complete self, not a heap of compartmentalized parts.

Yes, they share the joys that are a result of coming out. But both the LGBTQ community and advocates for cannabis legalization also share the pitfalls and negative consequences that are sometimes a result of coming out.

Despite a Supreme Court ruling that says otherwise, there are still many instances where a person can lose their job because they are gay. And just because cannabis is legal in your state doesn’t mean your employer can’t fire you for using it. One can lose the roof over their head for cannabis use, and for identifying as LGBTQ. Either can still result in losing custody of a child.

It takes courage to come out . . . whether you do so as a medical cannabis patient, adult-use consumer, or as someone who identifies as a member of the LGBTQ community. I came out as a gay man about 35 years ago, and I know it’s scary and difficult. So I can say without reservation, from experience and with great pride: my brother has courage.

My courageous brother still lives in the city where we grew up. He and his wife raised a terrific family about a mile away from our childhood home. He graduated from being the coolest kid in the neighborhood, to coolest dad in the neighborhood. He’s enjoying his most recent title: coolest empty nester in town. In a few months, he will add “coolest grandpa” to his resume. And me? Well, I’m still awkward.

And if anyone has a problem with that, you can bet, Chris will take care of it.

Carl Fillichio is a Vice President at Weedmaps.

by Carl Fillichio, Vice President at Weedmaps

Tuesday morning quarterbacking Labor Day 2021 media coverage:

The New York Times ran a lengthy and riveting opinion piece (“Let’s Honor True Spirit of Labor Day With a Union Revival”) exploring how American history often ignored the labor movement’s bloody struggle for human dignity. . . . while the New York Post’s editorial board explained “why most Americans no longer honor unions on Labor Day.” CNET revealed “the curious truth about Labor Day’s origins” . . . while National Public Radio just explained “why we celebrate it.” USA Today posted the stores and restaurants that were open yesterday. And on Fox News, Callista and Newt Gingrich shared what COVID taught us about American workers. All-in-all, a pretty normal Labor Day as far as news goes.

Scratch that. “There’s nothing normal about Labor Day 2021,” warned US News & World Reports.

Oddly absent from the Labor Day news coverage and editorializing was cannabis — and how the nascent legal cannabis industry has become a showcase of organized labor’s impact, evolution and success. Despite its impressive economic value — the legal market is projected to pull in $43 billion by 2025 — cannabis’ exclusion from the Labor Day Hit Parade wasn’t surprising. We saw it first a few months ago, when countless pundits declared the American trade movement dead after Amazon workers in Alabama voted overwhelmingly against forming a union. A blow for unions, certainly, but not enough of a reason to write their obituary. Especially as dozens of wins across the country were gained in the cannabis industry.

At the time of the Amazon election results, POLITICO noted that the cannabis industry is fertile ground for organizing efforts and highlighted workers at cannabis companies in New York and Massachusetts who recently voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. Forty Sunnyside workers in four different New York dispensaries (Sunnyside is owned by Cresco Labs) and 11 Curaleaf workers in Massachusetts voted for union representation. The designation by Governors from both political parties of cannabis shops in legal states as “essential” businesses during the COVID pandemic pushed workers to unions, as they were concerned for their safety at work. The union representing dispensary workers in Los Angeles for example, made sure dispensaries required masks and restricted in-store interaction.

The timing is certainly ripe for unionization within the industry, as states roll out or expand medical and adult-use programs. Additionally, public support for both unions and cannabis legalization are at record levels. About 10,000 cannabis workers — mostly in retail dispensaries — are represented by the UFCW. Other unions are in it to win it, too, including the Teamsters, representing cannabis workers in agriculture, cultivation and retail. The United Domestic Workers don’t represent cannabis workers per se, but rather home care aides whose patients rely on safe access to cannabis medication.

According to Marijuana Business Daily, union organizing in the cannabis industry has picked up significantly in the past year, in response to issues brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Traditional “union states’’ like Illinois, Massachusetts and New Jersey have particularly active campaigns. Cannabis workers join a union for a variety of reasons: health and safety issues, a voice in the workplace, and wage/benefit concerns brought on by an “unbanked” industry. Labor peace agreements and sophisticated organizing efforts are also resulting in unionized cannabis workplaces.

It should come as no surprise that all of this is impacting who is part of the cannabis industry, and who has a say in the industry’s future. The labor movement is taking its seat at the table. In New Jersey for example, Gov. Phil Murphy appointed a UFCW official to the state’s new Cannabis Regulatory Commission, flagging the union’s role in the state’s soon-to-launch adult-use cannabis program.

Unionization is also providing the cannabis industry with a credibility boost and image enhancement. “There’s a lot of people who look down on it because there’s a lot of stigma to it and I think that unionizing cannabis workers will remove a lot of that stigma,” a dispensary worker told VICE earlier this year. Proud to call himself a union guy, he believes the union “solidifies us as a respectable part of the United States’ workforce and a respectable part of the United States economy.”

And ultimately, unions could be the secret ingredient that gets cannabis legalized at the federal level. The most pro-union president in American history isn’t enamored with the idea of legal cannabis. But he might be more open to it if the prodding came from his union friends.

Carl Fillichio is a Vice President at Weedmaps. He served in Senior Executive positions at the US Department of Labor in the Clinton and Obama administrations.