His journey with cannabis started like a lot of others; he moved to Denver in 2012 during the heat of the Amendment 64 movement looking for any way he could get involved. After finding a job with a Colorado public interest research group that had him signing students up for photo ID on college campuses, Andrew realized it wasn’t the job for him.
Andrew ended up leaving his first job after a couple of months, and joined Students for Sensible Drug Policy where he would work on the legalization campaign.
“I worked on that campaign, it was awesome, and that’s how I got to know Josh and Mason and Brian Vicente and Christian as well who was keeping the law firm afloat at that time”
Through his work on the Amendment 64 campaign, Andrew met Christian and Brian of Vicente Sederberg LLC. With his work in public policy, specifically related to cannabis, it was a match made in cannabis heaven. Andrew’s policy experience and love of numbers led to multiple job opportunities with the firm, eventually resulting in a full time position.
After the passing of Amendment 64, Andrew’s work increased. With a regulated system that could actually be tracked, more statistics than ever before began to mount. More people were willing to admit to their cannabis use, which revealed new and changing trends.
“The ball is not going to roll down the hill by itself. Even though we think it is, we’re going to have to keep pushing it. There’s friction.”
Despite the vast changes and awesome advances the industry has seen, it is always fighting. With only a few states having full legalization, the rest of the country is watching those states with a microscope. As more states recognize the monetary and societal benefits of legalization they may move to do the same. When that happens, differing laws may arise, to different effects.
Listen to Andrew share his story about the legalization movement and where the future of the industry lies on his episode of The Real Dirt Podcast!
