“Legal Cannabis & Prison Reform” - The Intersection of Entrepreneurship & Reintroduction!

Prohibition of cannabis has been about bad science, racism, propaganda, and violence, “ says Arti Finn, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, APDS.  In this episode, host D-Rich leads a fascinating exploration of the intricate world of legalized cannabis and the political and social landscape that surrounds it. 

 

Our panel of guests share experiences about their presence in the industry, including the challenges they have confronted and solutions they have implemented. During a discussion on the topic of incarceration and the prison system, we delve into the massive role that prisons play in treatment for substance abuse and mental health, the many issues with private correctional institutions, and life after incarceration. And the panel guests emphasize the need for a cultural shift toward more effective solutions, backed by data and results.

 

Quotes

• “I think there's an opportunity for the industry to have an outsized word on criminal justice reform by saying taxes that are redirected from cannabis sales should be put into correctional education. States don't have enough money dedicated to that. Less than 17% of the folks that are incarcerated get any access to programming. So if you want to actually start to regulate the industry, control where the money goes.” (25:35 - 25:59 | Arti)

• “We criminalized things that should not have been criminalized, including cannabis consumption. And we did it on bad science. We did it using racism, we did it using propaganda, we did it using violence. And we're continuing to use that violence by putting people in cages for using something that is relatively harmless.” (38:22 - 38:44 | Maggie)

• “We miss the fact that the American prison system and jail system is the largest mental health institution we have in the country. There are more mentally ill people in our prisons and jails than there are in all the state psychiatric institutions combined. Also, people who are under the influence of drugs, well, jails are now the largest detoxification facilities in the country. 100 times more people are detoxed in jail than are detoxed in detox centers in the community or in hospital emergency rooms.” (43:58 - 44:36| Andy)

• “Talk to your state legislatures, your governor, anyone who's in policy making and really advocate for changing corrections from a place of warehousing to a place of true rehabilitation. And when you start to raise the pressure on government, they step up.” (1:04:19 - 1:04:39 | Arti)

 

Connect with our guests:

• Maggie Kinsella - https://coyotecannabisco.com/
• Arti Finn - https://apds.works/
• Andrew Klein - https://www.ahpnet.com/About/Meet-our-Experts/Andrew-Klein
• Kyle Moon - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-moon-4404b1170/

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