Steve DeAngelo has been one of the leaders of the marijuana movement for in a variety of fields over the past few decades. Most notably, he has helped build Harborside into the most prominent and successful medical cannabis dispensary in California, if not the world. DeAngelo, who has just been added to a great list of speakers at the upcoming International Cannabis Business Conference in San Francisco, has now taken a lead in helping bring consensus to the California marijuana legalization movement, as the state hopes to join the rest of the West Coast in legalizing marijuana for all adults in 2016.
From Bohemiam.com:
Steve DeAngelo, founder of Harborside Medical Center and the uncrowned king of California cannabis reform, took lead role as consensus builder.
“We’ve got to put our histories aside and come together,” DeAngelo said. “The only way we get this done is if we do it California-style. We all sit down in a circle and we talk to each other until we’ve figured it out. If we don’t, our California values of respect for nature, caring for our neighbors and diversity will be crushed.”
DeAngelo warned that without a “collaborative consensus” document that represents advocates, growers, consumers, the incarcerated, industry workers and the state, then lobbyists for Big Tobacco, casino and agribusiness could create a legalization bill that would dominate and transform the industry.
DeAngelo, never one to shy away from controversy, actually caused waves throughout the cannabis community when it seemed that he only supported medical, and not legalization for all adults. However, it is very important that California, and every state that seeks to legalize marijuana, let bygones be bygones and unify as much as possible. I certainly know that was the case in Oregon and it would have been impossible for Oregon to legalize marijuana if many people weren’t willing to set differences aside.
Steve DeAngelo will be interviewed by Celebstoner’s Steve Bloom at the International Cannabis Business Conference, being held February 15th-16th. The interview will, without a doubt, be engaging and entertaining as the Steves touch on DeAngelo’s work both in the industry and in activism and provide great insight into where the California cannabis industry sits today and where the cannabis community is headed in the near future. You can still get early bird tickets to the ICBC in San Francisco, but you probably should hurry as the event could sell out soon.
