While I currently work to advance social equity and promote public health in the cannabis industry through policy, I spent a decade working in different facets of the food and cannabis industry. I harvested my first cannabis plant in 2007 while I was in culinary school, then began developing a business to commercially grow cannabis and manufacture edible cannabis products; my flagship product was called MetaMilk®. I also helped new and struggling cannabis businesses by improving their operating procedures. I fostered many important client relationships and nurtured them over the years.
Many people ask why I left California's cannabis industry. In 2015-2016 California made its first serious attempt to develop statewide regulations for the medical cannabis industry. I attended multiple State Assembly meetings in Sacramento to understand more about the process. By their own admittance, state regulatory officials did not possess the expertise needed to develop appropriate regulations for the cannabis industry. I believe that policy should be evidence-based, prioritize consumer safety, and ensure public health. So, I decided to apply to graduate programs that would provide me with the education I needed to effectively develop policies that would ultimately determine how cannabis would be regulated.
I left the private sector in 2017 and moved to Maryland to attend the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; I quickly realized that the local medical cannabis industry was still in its infancy. In 2019 I graduated from their Coordinated Program in Nutrition, during which I studied biostatistics, epidemiology, public policy, community nutrition and clinical dietetics. My culminating practicum was completed at the Maryland Department of Health's Office of Food Protection and the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission. I found myself in the right place at the right time; on the first day of this internship a bill was introduced that would give the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission statutory authority to develop regulations for edible cannabis products. Formative research was needed, so I conducted an analysis of the regulatory landscape specific to orally-consumed cannabis products in the United States. I was able to identify best practices used to regulate edible cannabis products and pinpoint effective preventative measures that support food-safety but had not been widely implemented yet. The process that bill went through was eye opening, and a true insight to the politics behind everything.
I went on to serve as a Cannabis Product Safety Analyst at the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission. Initially, I was able to further develop the edible cannabis product regulations I developed as an intern to fit into the Code of Maryland Regulations; they were unanimously approved by the state-appointed commissioners in December 2019 and have been adopted in the Code of Maryland Regulations. I also participated in the review of new cannabis grower and processor applications to evaluate the businesses’ ability to support diversity internally, promote social justice for those most affected by the criminalization of cannabis, and empower females, ethnic minorities, and economically disadvantaged people to be a part of the cannabis industry.
I currently live in Seattle, Washington and am working as a Cannabis Policy Research Associate at the Public Health Institute.
Many people ask why I left California's cannabis industry. In 2015-2016 California made its first serious attempt to develop statewide regulations for the medical cannabis industry. I attended multiple State Assembly meetings in Sacramento to understand more about the process. By their own admittance, state regulatory officials did not possess the expertise needed to develop appropriate regulations for the cannabis industry. I believe that policy should be evidence-based, prioritize consumer safety, and ensure public health. So, I decided to apply to graduate programs that would provide me with the education I needed to effectively develop policies that would ultimately determine how cannabis would be regulated.
I left the private sector in 2017 and moved to Maryland to attend the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; I quickly realized that the local medical cannabis industry was still in its infancy. In 2019 I graduated from their Coordinated Program in Nutrition, during which I studied biostatistics, epidemiology, public policy, community nutrition and clinical dietetics. My culminating practicum was completed at the Maryland Department of Health's Office of Food Protection and the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission. I found myself in the right place at the right time; on the first day of this internship a bill was introduced that would give the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission statutory authority to develop regulations for edible cannabis products. Formative research was needed, so I conducted an analysis of the regulatory landscape specific to orally-consumed cannabis products in the United States. I was able to identify best practices used to regulate edible cannabis products and pinpoint effective preventative measures that support food-safety but had not been widely implemented yet. The process that bill went through was eye opening, and a true insight to the politics behind everything.
I went on to serve as a Cannabis Product Safety Analyst at the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission. Initially, I was able to further develop the edible cannabis product regulations I developed as an intern to fit into the Code of Maryland Regulations; they were unanimously approved by the state-appointed commissioners in December 2019 and have been adopted in the Code of Maryland Regulations. I also participated in the review of new cannabis grower and processor applications to evaluate the businesses’ ability to support diversity internally, promote social justice for those most affected by the criminalization of cannabis, and empower females, ethnic minorities, and economically disadvantaged people to be a part of the cannabis industry.
I currently live in Seattle, Washington and am working as a Cannabis Policy Research Associate at the Public Health Institute.