HOW THE MOST INFLUENTIAL CANNABIS PERSON BECAME INFLUENTIAL

The cannabis industry is growing with every passing day. Billions of dollars are being invested into cannabis businesses, which is giving the people in the business reasons to be happy and excited. Many states in the US has now legalized marijuana for medical use, and some have allowed the recreational use of marijuana, while Canada has given legality to both adult recreational marijuana usage and medical marijuana.

Many people have played important roles in making marijuana legal in many places around the world. Many famous actors, writers, singers/rappers, innovators, business personalities, and even politicians have paved the way for getting the legal status. From Bernie Sanders to Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg to Megan Rapinoe, Aaron Justis to Bill Clinton, Wanda James to Morgan Freeman, there have been many such prominent people who have been influential to the cannabis business. But the most influential cannabis people of all is Steve DeAngelo.

Steve DeAngelo is one the most high-profile leaders of the cannabis industry. Considered to be “The Father of the Legal Cannabis Industry”, Steve DeAngelo has been a cannabis activist, advocate, entrepreneur and educator for about four decades now. He spent the decade of 1990s leading Ecolution, a pioneering producer of industrial hemp goods that were sold to retail stores in all the fifty US states, and twenty one other countries as well. DeAngelo dropped out of school to become an activist and joined the Youth National Party, commonly known as the Yippies. He went on to become the lead organizer of the annual Fourth of July Smoke-In in Washington D.C., and successfully organized it for about a decade. DeAngelo, later, went on to graduate as a summa cum laude from the University of Maryland. He also launched a legendary D.C. counter-cultural gathering place that became known as a refuge for local cannabis and peace activists, which included the likes of William Kunstler, Wavy Gravy, and Jack Herer. After reading Herer’s book- “The Emperor Wears No Clothes”, DeAngelo arranged to meet him, and went on to organize a national tour along with Herer, to promote hemp and marijuana.

Steve DeAngelo has founded many successful socially responsible ventures. He co-founded Arcview Group, the first cannabis investment firm in the US. He also launched the industry’s first lab testing service named Steep Hill Names. Steep Hill is a world leader in cannabis science and technology. They have extensive expertise in lab testing, remote testing, genetics, research and development, and intellectual property licensing; and Arcview Group now has over six hundred accredited investors and has been able to raise almost $300 million for about two hundred cannabis-related companie

One of his other venture was the Oakland based Harborside Health Center, which is one of the largest cannabis dispensaries in the world. Harborside was one of the first in the US to provide comprehensive cannabis education to seniors, veterans, and families with severely ill children. It was founded in 2006 as a non-profit medical cannabis dispensary, and was among one of the first six medical cannabis licenses that were granted in the United States. Harborside’s aim has always been to promote wellness, providing safe and affordable access to cannabis for those who require it, and to destigmatize cannabis. He, however, parted ways with Harborside Health Center in January 2021, but continues to be a promoter of cannabis. DeAngelo has also been a part of radio and TV shows to promote cannabis.