Speakers
Keynotes
Steve Deangelo
Steve DeAngelo is a globally recognized cannabis leader who was dubbed “the father of the legal industry” by former Speaker of the California Assembly Willie Brown. As a lifelong activist, author, educator, investor, and entrepreneur, he has spent more than four decades on the front lines of the cannabis reform movement. His most notable business achievements include co-founding Harborside-one of the first six dispensaries licensed in the United States-now a publicly-traded company on the Canadian Securities Exchange; Steep Hill Laboratory, the first cannabis analytics company; Arcview Group, the first dedicated cannabis investment network, and Last Prisoner Project, dedicated to fighting criminal injustice and reimagining drug policy
Steve is the author of The Cannabis Manifesto and an originator of the wellness approach to understanding cannabis. He played a key role in the passage of Initiative 59, Washington DC’s medical cannabis law; the passage of Prop 64, California’s adult-use law; and successfully defended multiple legal attempts by US federal authorities to shutter the doors of Harborside. Steve is also the founder of Last Prisoner Project and the JUSTÜS Foundation
Garth Strachan is a technical consultation to the PMO Presidency and the Industrial Development Corporation on cannabis. He holds a Masters Degree from London University in Finance and Public Policy. He was formerly the Provincial Minister for Finance and Economic Development in the Western Cape Province and the Deputy Director General for Industrial Development at the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition.
