Commitment to Cannabis

I had the pleasure of attending the 420 Expo in Edison, New Jersey this past weekend. The first of its kind, a three-day event dedicated to all things cannabis, it was an important next step in the legitimization of cannabis as an influential statewide industry and a widely-used wellness substance. This comes in the same week that the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) issued its temporary guidelines for Workplace Impairment Guidance, which prohibits employers from terminating employees simply for testing positive for cannabis on drug tests. These are signs of continuing progress, progress achieved over the years because of the tireless efforts of passionate advocates and brave voices.

While driving down the turnpike after the Expo, I considered how this big legal step in the New Jersey cannabis community would shape the future. That led to thoughts of those who have sacrificed so much while trying to correct misinformation and promote truth about a wellness substance. Cannabists that have gone to prison, cannabists that have lost custody of their children, cannabists that have faced judgment from family and friends because of the stigma - many have chosen to commit to cannabis, despite facing harmful and long-lasting repercussions.

Why? Why have people gone to bat for cannabis? People use it for wellness and health, but people stand up for it for gratitude. This simple plant alleviates pain. It heals. It calms. It sparks. It soothes. It repairs. It does whatever its user needs it to. Those that invest in healthy relationships with cannabis have immense gratitude for all that it brings to them. That’s why the gratitude is so strong and influential. That gratitude was shining across the faces of many of the attendees at the 420 Expo, a group of people proud of being able to gather and celebrate something worthy of appreciation. And worthy of fighting for. That’s something that I encourage the confused, the ambivalent, and the oppositional to carefully consider.

Angela

PS - For the three awesome humans that I met at the Expo (you fondly called yourselves DJ, Stephanie, and Gibbler), I know I promised a strategic planning post, but this seemed more pertinent. I’ll post that strategic planning information in a couple of weeks, promise.

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