Steve DeAngelo (born June 12, 1958) is an American activist and advocate for cannabis reform in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Career

Steve DeAngelo is the co-founder and chairman emeritus of Harborside Inc., which is a publicly traded cannabis company listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange. Harborside Health Center was founded in 2006 as a non-profit

medical cannabis Medical cannabis, medicinal cannabis or medical marijuana (MMJ) refers to cannabis products and cannabinoid molecules that are prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabis as medicine has a long history, but has not ...

dispensary A dispensary is an office in a school, hospital, industrial plant, or other organization that dispenses medications, medical supplies, and in some cases even medical and dental treatment. In a traditional dispensary set-up, a pharmacist dispense ...

and had more than 300,000 registered medical patients. DeAngelo is also co-founder of Steep Hill, Inc., the first commercial

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

lab in the country, and co-founder of Arcview Group, the first cannabis investment firm. DeAngelo formerly served Arcview as vice president. Harborside was the subject of

Weed Wars ''Weed Wars'' is an American reality-documentary television series that documents a popular medical marijuana dispensary, Harborside Health Center, in Oakland, California. The series premiered on the Discovery Channel on December 1, 2011. The se ...

, a reality series which aired on the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

. DeAngelo is the author of ''The Cannabis Manifesto: A New Paradigm for Wellness''.

Last Prisoner Project

In 2019, DeAngelo founded Last Prisoner Project, a cannabis reform non-profit, along with Dean Raise and Andrew DeAngelo. The project advocates for legislation to clear criminal convictions related to cannabis use and provides resources for previously incarcerated individuals.

Activism

Early on as an activist, DeAngelo skipped school to attend anti-war demonstrations and eventually dropped out to join the

Youth International Party The Youth International Party (YIP), whose members were commonly called Yippies, was an American youth-oriented radical and countercultural revolutionary offshoot of the free speech and anti-war movements of the late 1960s. It was founded on D ...

, also known as the Yippies. He went on to become the lead organizer of the annual Fourth of July Smoke-In in D.C., carrying the position for a decade. He also opened a D.C. counter-cultural gathering place that became known as a refuge for local cannabis and peace activists during the Reagan-Bush era. These activists included

William Kunstler William Moses Kunstler (July 7, 1919 – September 4, 1995) was an American attorney and civil rights activist, known for defending the Chicago Seven. Kunstler was an active member of the National Lawyers Guild, a board member of the American Ci ...

Wavy Gravy Hugh Nanton Romney Jr. (born May 15, 1936), known as Wavy Gravy, is an American entertainer and peace activist best known for his role at Woodstock, as well as for his hippie persona and countercultural beliefs. Romney has founded or co-founde ...

, and author Jack Herer , who DeAngelo helped in editing and publishing the manuscript for his book, '' The Emperor Wears No Clothes.'' DeAngelo became a lead organizer of the first Hemp Museum and Hemp Tour. His first cannabis business, Ecolution, was one of the first to ride the industrial hemp boom, manufacturing hemp clothing and accessories for retail sales in all 50 states and 21 countries during the 1990s.

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:DeAngelo, Steve 1958 births Living people Yippies Activists from Washington, D.C. American cannabis activists Businesspeople in the cannabis industry Victims' rights organizations