Wanda James looked at the 300-plus attendees of the inaugural NJ Cannabis Summit and asked a simple question.
“How many of you consume cannabis?”
For James, the CEO of Simply Pure and an applicant for one of six Alternative Treatment Centers in New Jersey, openly talking about cannabis isn’t just a lifestyle issue – it’s vital to growing a successful industry.
“What is this industry going to look like as it becomes second nature in New Jersey?” said James, who with her husband were the first African-American dispensary owners in the nation when their store opened in Denver in 2009.
It’s about a consumer base that includes doctors, lawyers and investors as well as soccer moms and Baby Boomers.
“For people who do cannabis and keep it on the down low, if it does not affect your job – stop denying it,” James said. “We need to talk about. That’s the only way to end the stigma.
“In Colorado we don’t have that stigma anymore.”