Steve DeAngelo is a very high profile activist in California, and at a national level. With the recent filing of a new marijuana legalization initiative, commonly referred to in the mainstream media as the ‘Sean Parker initiative,’ Steve DeAngelo released the following statement:
California is roaring toward legalization efforts in 2016, and the field of initiatives submitted to the state is getting crowded. On Monday billionaire philanthropist Sean Parker, a known disrupter in the music and technology space, announced that he is backing initiative language filed Monday.
Executive Director of Harborside Health Centers and author of a new book, The Cannabis Manifesto, Steve DeAngelo responded with this statement:
“If the initiative filed today by proponents associated with Sean Parker were the only cannabis reform initiative on the ballot, I would vote for it. However, I think California can do better— and the language also filed today by longtime activist and cannabis attorney George Mull is closer to the mark. It is much shorter and easily understood, firmly closes the door to Big Tobacco and Big Alcohol, and mandates more appropriate penalties for cannabis infractions. I continue to believe our best strategy for victory in November is bringing the entire cannabis community together behind one initiative, and call on all initiative proponents to work towards that goal”
About Harborside Health Center:
“Harborside Health Center, a nonprofit medical marijuana dispensary with locations in Oakland and San Jose, California, is looked upon as a model of how others could operate.” – The New York Times
Founded in 2006 by Steve DeAngelo, Harborside Health Center is the most respected and largest medical cannabis dispensary in the United States. Harborside has over 200,000 registered patients and was first in the nation to support education for seniors, veterans and families with severely ill children; first in the country to offer CBD-rich medicine; and the first to treat children with Dravet syndrome. Harborside continues to set an example of diversity and compliance, and is one of the prime advocates of diversity, sustainability and economic justice in the industry.
DeAngelo also co-founded the nation’s first cannabis-testing facility, Steep Hill Labs, and the country’s first cannabis investment and research firm, The ArcView Group. His debut book, “The Cannabis Manifesto: A New Paradigm for Wellness,” was published by North Atlantic Books and distributed by Penguin/Random House on September 22, 2015; in the book’s foreword, Willie L. Brown, Jr., 41st mayor of San Francisco, calls DeAngelo, “the father of the legal cannabis industry.” DeAngelo was star of the Discovery Channel reality series, “Weed Wars” (2011). He was named one of the most influential people and “gatekeeper” of the marijuana industry in 2015 by the International Business Times, and one of the most influential people in the cannabis industry in 2014 by the Cannabis Business Executive.
