“I was born and raised in Akron, Ohio. While in my teens I was shown the film, Reefer Madness at a school assembly. My family, school and community believed a brain on drugs was like a fried egg and were certain its use was a sign of decline. Even so, I was never a true soldier in the war on drugs; more of a neutral observer who was agnostic on the subject of cannabis.” 

Still, my path to becoming the co-owner of cultivation operations in Washington, D.C. and Maryland may seem unlikely. I was living in New York City with my wife, when the opportunity to become Counsel to a Congressional Committee arose. My wife, who grew up in DC, reluctantly agreed to interrupt her career so we could move from New York City to Washington, DC. At that time, optimism was in the air. We watched our family and friends join the expanding middle class.

In DC, I served in advisory roles to three Presidents from the 1970’s to 1990’s, including acting as general counsel to Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign in 1980.

“My mind opened to change, to shaking off the “reefer madness” that I learned about in my teens, when I learned of a friend diagnosed with PTSD who was self-treating with cannabis … I started to realize the double standard in enforcement and the huge toll that enforcement was having on economically disadvantaged families largely comprised of people of color.”

My mind opened to change, to shaking off the “reefer madness” that I learned about in my teens, when I learned of a friend diagnosed with PTSD who was self-treating with cannabis. That was when I began peeling back the layers surrounding cannabis prohibition. I started to realize the double standard in enforcement and the huge toll that enforcement was having on economically disadvantaged families largely comprised of people of color. 

SIDE SESSION:

Q: If you could talk to anyone about cannabis who would it be and what would you say?

A: I would love a conversation with the team of people that finds a cure for Parkinson’s Disease. I would ask them “What took so long?”

Cannabis, at the least, relieves inflammation and muscle stiffness for most who use it as a legally available medicine once it has been recommended to patients by their doctor. Cannabis alleviates anxiety; and in groups, collegiality and good humor are common. Every movement has a few unshakable opponents, but on the whole, most who use cannabis experience relief. ·

“Classifying cannabis as a Schedule one drug prohibits cannabis research despite its history safety and efficacy … Most important, patients are denied the benefits of medical research …”

Classifying cannabis as a Schedule one drug prohibits cannabis research despite its history safety and efficacy. The classification supports a punitive tax burden on the cannabis industry. Most important, patients are denied the benefits of medical research and the laboratories that engage in researching cannabis, risk institutional loss of federal funding for all research. 

My father-in-law suggested I get a Master’s in business. I should have done it. Since then, I tried to keep ego out of decision-making. Being a cannabis entrepreneur, life is filled with big challenges and occasionally, big victories. My team has learned to expect costs for operation to be higher and progress to take longer than you ever imagined. I am fortunate to have good partners who are in business for more than money, and that makes all the difference.

“My proudest moment as a cannabis business owner was receiving final approval from the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission Commission to commence operation in Maryland. We fought a battle above our weight class and prevailed.”

My proudest moment as a cannabis business owner was receiving final approval from the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission Commission to commence operation in Maryland. We fought a battle above our weight class and prevailed. ·Victories like that make weathering the challenges in this business manageable.

About Ed Weidenfeld and District Cannabis:

District Cannabis began with a chance meeting between its founder Edward Weidenfeld and Andras Kirschner. Ed comes from a background of administrative law and has served as counsel to pharmaceutical manufacturing companies, as well as on high-level boards and commissions under six presidential administrations. After being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, Ed discovered that cannabis was instrumental in improving his quality of life with a degenerative disease and made it his mission to grow the cleanest and most effective medicine possible.

Andras comes to the medical cannabis industry from a different angle; after completing his bachelors in Sustainable Agriculture, Andras went on to found an 80-acre organic vegetable farm in Vermont, where he was tasked with amending and rehabilitating the fallow hay fields into a profitable and efficient farm, well-drilling, installation of irrigation and septic systems, and the construction of two (2) x 1,500 square foot greenhouses. After several years of farming, Andras relocated to California to work with and train other experienced cannabis cultivators. Andras built a warehouse cultivation facility that supplied medical cannabis collectives and dispensaries with what was widely recognized as some of the finest medical grade cannabis in the Bay Area.

The combined passions of public policy, public health, and sustainable production led Ed and Andras to open the District of Columbia’s premiere medical cannabis cultivation facility, with a strong company ethos of providing the highest standard products to local medical patients, and treating the plant with integrity and respect. The staff at Phyto is comprised of individuals with backgrounds in horticulture, genetics, culinary, construction, retail and other careers that lend their experience to cannabis cultivation. The combined knowledge of our seasoned team allows us to create a truly world class medicinal product, designed to fit into a patient’s everyday life.