WORKWEEK

As usual, my social media community has come through for me.

I’ve been building my cannabis community on LinkedIn for three years. Truly, my LinkedIn cannabis community has my heart. So many fantastic people in my circle and I even met some at our event in March – I tear up thinking about it 🥲

But in January, I joined Twitter and I now have almost 900 followers! And my Twitter community is amazing, too, and quickly becoming another huge part of my heart.

I put out a call on May 4th asking for recommendations of people in cannabis to follow on Twitter. Here’s what I wrote:

So I just realized I’ve been on Twitter since January and not once have I asked who the best cannabis people are to follow and interact with!! So, who are they? Influencers, attorneys, HR people, growers, investors, budtenders, cannabis tech gurus, marketers – lmk ’em all !!

The post got 209 likes, 20 retweets, and 89 comments! I’ve gained about 200 new followers since posting this. 

So – I’m using this newsletter to spotlight some of the people mentioned in this thread!

I love the idea of community, and I think amplifying meaningful voices in cannabis is just another way for not only The Green Paper’s community to grow – but each of our reader’s communities, too! 

Plus, we get to hear from more perspectives than just The Green Paper’s – and we all know how impactful diverse opinions and ideas are. 🧠

Without further ado, here are 3 fantastic people in cannabis to follow on Twitter right now:

Ashleigh Brown

First up on the list is Ashleigh Brown. I’ve actually been following Ashleigh for a while, but she was mentioned in my post and I had to highlight her anyway! 

I’ve enjoyed following Ashleigh because, like me, Ashleigh is a medical cannabis patient. Ashleigh is vocal about her battle with epilepsy on Twitter, but she also has Young Onset Parkinson’s disease and endometriosis. She isn’t shy about sharing how medical cannabis helps her, and just how far we have to go when it comes to making cannabis accessible for patients:

Ashleigh lives in Canada and beyond being a powerhouse voice for medical cannabis patients everywhere and a consultant in the space, she’s also the founder of SheCann. SheCann is an online community focusing on empowering Canadian women who use medical cannabis. 

Ashleigh is a positive, upbeat (and hilarious) voice in cannabis. She consistently expresses her gratitude for how cannabis improves her quality of life, with a dash of spice and humor. 

Why You Should Follow: Ashleigh has her finger on the pulse of the medical cannabis movement. If you’re interested in everything having to do with medical cannabis, especially in Canada, you need to follow Ashleigh. Her tweets cover everything from patient knowledge to current policy.

Shaleen Title

Shaleen is quite possibly one of the coolest women on cannabis Twitter. Here’s a tweet that sums up just a fraction of how awesome she is:

Shaleen served as one of the five inaugural commissioners of the Cannabis Control Commission in Massachusetts, and she’s apparently the only one in history to have made it to the end of their term. Chairperson Steve Hoffman resigned earlier this month with five months left in his term. 

Shaleen is also the CEO and co-founder of Parabola Center, a drug policy think tank. She’s an Indian-American attorney and has been writing, passing, and implementing equitable cannabis laws for over 20 years. She released a paper last year called, “Fair and Square: How to Effectively Incorporate Social Equity Into Cannabis Laws and Regulations.” 

Why You Should Follow: Shaleen has more cannabis accomplishments under her belt than I have room to name. There are very few people in our space who have been advocating for, passing legislation, and working with cannabis for as long as Shaleen has, so you’ll undoubtedly learn something from her. 

Kirk Tousaw

Kirk is a force to be reckoned with, and I didn’t know who he was until I made my post – I was definitely missing out. 

Kirk is a cannabis attorney and the CEO and co-founder of the Canadian cannabis company, Great Gardener Farms. He was also part of the legal team that convinced a Federal Court Judge to strike down Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) in Allard vs. Canada, among other historical cannabis cases in Canada.

Kirk even played a part in bringing legalization to Canada. He’s been practicing law since 1998 and served on the Board of Directors of NORML Canada. He was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in January 2013 for his advocacy and work on behalf of medical cannabis patients. 

Why You Should Follow: Kirk is obviously well-versed in Canada’s cannabis laws, but he also operates his own cannabis company, Green Gardener Farms. He has a wide variety of expertise in the cannabis space, from laws to genetics, so there’s room to learn from Kirk. He tweets a lot about changing drug policy in Canada and across the world. Kirk is also a huge advocate for bolstering social restoration and justice in cannabis, and he’s not shy to share that with his followers.