{"id":10904,"date":"2025-11-11T15:31:43","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T15:31:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabisindustryjournal.com\/?post_type=news_article&amp;p=37895"},"modified":"2025-11-11T15:31:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T15:31:43","slug":"drug-policy-alliance-founder-fires-up-the-audience-at-the-business-of-cannabis-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/drug-policy-alliance-founder-fires-up-the-audience-at-the-business-of-cannabis-event\/","title":{"rendered":"Drug Policy Alliance Founder Fires Up The Audience At The Business of Cannabis\u00a0Event"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/drug-policy-alliance-founder-fires-up-the-audience-at-the-business-of-cannabis-event\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The highlight of the Business of Cannabis event, held at the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, a hip neighborhood in<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-37898 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/drug-policy-alliance-founder-fires-up-the-audience-at-the-business-of-cannabis-event.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"133\" height=\"200\" \/> Brooklyn, New York, was the keynote speaker. Ethan Nadelmann, founder of the Drug Policy Alliance, has since retired from his position but continues to mentor and serve on the board of Green Thumb Industries.<\/span> <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He kicked off the afternoon panels with a fiery address that had the audience cheering him on.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cI\u2019m guessing the vast majority of you have no idea who I am. Simplest way to say it is, I\u2019m your fucking daddy, and you don\u2019t even know.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The crowd erupted with laughter as Nadelmann launched into a passionate reflection on his three decades leading the fight to end marijuana prohibition. He reminded the room that before there was an industry, there was a movement built on outrage, principle, and justice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He recounted how, in 1996, he helped lead the campaign that made California the first state to legalize medical marijuana, and later founded the Drug Policy Alliance to fight the broader drug war and reframe addiction as a health issue rather than a criminal one.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cI didn\u2019t do this for the industry,\u201d he said. \u201cI did it because I was pissed off\u2014pissed that people were being arrested, discriminated against, lied to, and locked up for smoking a plant.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He explained that the legalization movement<\/span> <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">was not driven<\/span> <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">by corporate interests but by philanthropists and activists from across the political spectrum who believed Prohibition was unjust. \u201cFrom 1996 to 2016,\u201d he said, \u201cthe role of industry in funding reform was almost zero.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Nadelmann reflected on how unimaginable today\u2019s market once seemed. In the 1980s, only 23 percent of Americans supported legalization. Dispensaries were not even a concept when he began organizing. \u201cWe knew marijuana had legitimate medical value,\u201d he said, \u201cbut we had no idea how incredibly diverse this could become.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Turning to the present, he noted that \u201chalf the country is now legal,\u201d citing Virginia\u2019s recent progress and growing optimism in Florida and Pennsylvania. \u201cI know most of you focus on New York and New Jersey,\u201d he added, \u201cbut I\u2019m a big-picture guy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He warned that unresolved federal issues could reshape the industry overnight, particularly the ongoing debate around intoxicating hemp products. \u201cDo we know what\u2019s going to happen with the Farm Bill and that loophole? Will<\/span> <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">the whole thing<\/span> <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">be turned upside down? And if they close the Farm Bill loophole and allow the hemp beverages, will they actually enforce it?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Nadelmann questioned whether hemp and cannabis markets might inevitably merge, given that THC from hemp and cannabis is virtually indistinguishable. \u201cIn blind tests, people cannot tell the difference between cannabis products and the hemp THC stuff,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom a health perspective, when they\u2019re properly regulated, there is no difference. Doesn\u2019t it seem inevitable that the markets are just going<\/span> <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">to eventually merge<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He also raised concerns about price compression, competition, and the potential for market consolidation. \u201cIs New York going to become like Michigan? Are we going to see a race to the bottom in terms of price?\u201d he asked, noting that while the illicit market may eventually decline in a well-regulated system, its persistence continues to complicate state programs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Reflecting on broader economic trends, Nadelmann wondered whether national legalization would lead to massive consolidation or a revival of small operators. He compared cannabis to other industries that evolved over time. \u201cWhen I moved back to New York 30 years ago, there were hundreds of small coffee shops until Starbucks came along and wiped them out. Now there are more single-owner coffee shops than there were before. The same thing happened with alcohol after Prohibition\u2014large corporations took over, then decades later, we saw the rise of microbreweries and craft distilleries. So we don\u2019t really know how this plays out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">When asked if legalization was truly \u201clocked in,\u201d Nadelmann cautioned against complacency. \u201cWe don\u2019t have to worry about rollback, right? I don\u2019t know,\u201d he said. \u201cSupport for legalization peaked two years ago. A couple of polls show Republican support dropping 10 to 14 points just in the last year and a half. Some organizations are already trying to reverse ballot initiatives in states like Massachusetts. If they succeed, that affects the national picture. What happens in New York or Massachusetts matters everywhere.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He warned that despite the industry\u2019s success, public perception remains fragile. \u201cWe know cannabis is a psychoactive substance. We all know people who use it too much or who shouldn\u2019t be using it. We don\u2019t want kids waking and baking. We got lucky that teenage use stayed constant after legalization, but if those numbers start to rise, never underestimate the ability of this country to do something<\/span> <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">really stupid<\/span> <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">when it comes to drugs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Drawing on history, he reminded the audience that the United States was the only nation to impose a constitutional amendment banning alcohol. \u201cThat\u2019s how stupid we were,\u201d he said. \u201cThis country can do stupid stuff over and over again, and it\u2019s therefore incumbent upon people in this industry to be smart about how we proceed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Still, he offered reasons for optimism, citing growing evidence that cannabis may substitute for opioids in pain management and that cannabis beverages appear to be replacing alcohol for some consumers, which he called a net public health benefit.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">But he urged balance and responsibility. \u201cWe know more people are using cannabis daily. For many, that\u2019s fine, but for some, it\u2019s not. You talk to psychiatrists, and they\u2019ll tell you they\u2019re seeing more young people with cannabis use disorder. You can\u2019t ignore that,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As he closed, Nadelmann widened his focus to the broader \u201cpsychedelic renaissance,\u201d calling it one of the most exciting social and scientific movements of the past few decades. He drew parallels between today\u2019s psychedelic reform efforts and the early days of marijuana legalization, with states like Colorado and Oregon already leading through therapeutic programs. He predicted a multi-billion-dollar medicinal psychedelics industry on the horizon. He suggested that pharmaceutical companies\u2014once obstacles to cannabis reform\u2014could now play a positive role in legitimizing plant-based medicines.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cThey may, in fact, be playing a helpful role,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause as they figure out which components of the cannabis plant are truly medicinal, they\u2019ll help to legitimize cannabis as something positive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He then challenged the audience to think even bigger: \u201cAre we going to become a society that allows people to use the substances they want to alter their state of consciousness without being punished, and regulate it<\/span> <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">in a smart way<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">? Or are we going to find ourselves rolling back suddenly?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Nadelmann likened the cannabis movement to the fight for marriage equality\u2014two social revolutions that seemed impossible a generation ago but are now<\/span> <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">broadly<\/span> <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">accepted.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cThese things were inconceivable 40 years ago, and they now seem locked in,\u201d he said. \u201cBut they\u2019re not totally locked in. We have to pay attention.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\">\n<div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\">\n<h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The highlight of the Business of Cannabis event, held at the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, a hip neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, was the keynote speaker. Ethan Nadelmann, founder of the Drug Policy Alliance, has since retired from his position but continues to mentor and serve on the board of Green Thumb Industries. He kicked [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10825,10826,10827,9290,9,50,10819,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[10828,10829,10830,9295,2630,10820],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10904"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10904\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}