Erich Pearson Age: 39 Company: SPARC Position: President “I guess I never felt that it was the wrong thing to do,” he says. “It has never morally challenged me, whether I should or shouldn’t be doing it, just because it’s illegal. That’s never deterred me.” As soon as Pearson heard of Prop 215, the nation’s first medical marijuana law, he knew he was heading to California. Two years later, Pearson left Indiana after graduating from Purdue University with a degree in building construction management. He started his first grow operation in Sonoma County that same year, 1998. Through perseverance, several more arrests in California, and more than 18 years of hard work in the industry, Pearson has become one of the recognized leaders and innovators in the cannabis movement. “Without us breaking laws, we wouldn’t be able to change laws,” he says. In 2010, he opened SPARC in San Francisco, which has been lauded for its cutting edge design. The dispensary serves roughly 600-800 patients per day. Pearson has three cultivation facilities and 150 employees, with expansion plans on the horizon. “The best times are yet to come,” Pearson says. “The last year has really shifted priorities and given us some breathing room. Not having to wake up every morning wondering if you’re going to be raided, living like that for as many years as I did, it’s nice to know that’s gone.”
Erich Pearson
Even in his youth, Erich Pearson was arrested for cannabis on multiple occasions.