By Vicki Christophersen
Momentum to legalize cannabis is building across the country. Washington, D.C., our nation’s capital, is one of the latest to engage in building the foundation for a safe environment where consumers and cannabis businesses enjoy the mutual benefits of a legal marketplace.
Washington State is well on its way. Following the recent passage of the Cannabis Patient Protection Act from the state Senate to the House Health Care and Wellness Committee, we are one step closer to ensuring safe, quality-controlled products for all consumers in Washington. By the time you read these words, the legislation may have moved further within the legislative process and the system envisaged by Initiative 502 will be within reach in the form of a wholly-regulated system benefiting both legitimate medical patients and licensed businesses. For now, there is still work to be done on the policy front and in redefining cannabis both as a product and as a market for the uninitiated public.
For most people — and maybe even some readers of Marijuana Venture — cannabis is represented by the green, five-leaf plant image that can be found on buttons, stickers, T-shirts and endless video clips featuring clouds of smoke at festivals. There are memorable characters in popular culture who serve as de facto representatives of marijuana, ranging from Cheech and Chong to Jeff Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High to Harold and Kumar’s search for White Castle burgers. But for most of us in the legal, regulated market, the caricature couldn’t be further from reality.
That’s why we came together to form the Washington CannaBusiness Association (WACA), the only organization of its kind advocating for state-licensed producers, processors and retailers of cannabis. In this group are professionals like Rob and Diane, who have put their life savings into a mom and pop store, and innovators who are tirelessly working toward medical products to stave off the suffering from an illness or injury. Tera Martin, manager of the Green Theory retail store in Bellevue, is one such innovator.
A former beauty pageant winner, Martin is a far cry from the widely-accepted stereotype of a cannabis user. As a breast cancer survivor and advocate who developed Stage 3 ductal carcinoma at age 28, her subsequent use of cannabis to alleviate the effects of her treatment underscored the importance of the safety and availability of the products she used. While Martin’s professional background is in hospitality and event management, her personal experience led to the founding of the Pink Gene Foundation.
The Pink Gene Foundation strives to help young women become proactive in the fight against breast cancer by educating, providing resources and offering assistance. Specifically, Martin’s foundation aims to create funds that help build awareness for women at high risk to support genetic testing, prevention and a new project with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, called the Pink Gene Screen.
Getting beyond the frightening narrative about marijuana established by movies like Reefer Madness is a significant challenge for legalizing cannabis across the country. The sentiment that all marijuana users are “stoners” who sit in murky vans or else dangerous criminals running drug syndicates is at the heart of the need to redefine the individuals and businesses at the core of the legalization movement.
While Tera Martin is one of a kind, cannabis entrepreneurs and others in the legal marketplace who share her passion and professionalism represent concerned citizens, community members, loving parents and good neighbors. They fit the stereotype of non-users far more than the exaggerated misrepresentation of those portrayed in popular culture. Washington State has already turned the page on the cannabis legend and begun to write a new story. Working together with policymakers, community leaders, elected officials and people like you, we look forward to writing a story that works for Washington.
Vicki Christophersen is the executive director of the Washington CannaBusiness Association.