Leo Bridgewater Sr. is an influential force in New Jersey’s cannabis legislation. While his presence alone can captivate a room, it’s his experience and words that are the driving forces.
After serving three tours of duty in the Army, Bridgewater went on to work in Washington D.C. as a Defense Department contractor in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Around 2015, Bridgewater was back home with his family in Trenton. He was attending school through the G.I. Bill and working for a dispensary, Breakwater, in nearby Cranbury. Yet, Bridgewater began to notice troubles with his sleep and anger – his first signs of PTSD.
Around the same time, his Army friends were dealing with similar struggles. A few attempted suicide. Some were successful in their attempts. Thankfully, Bridgewater was able to talk a friend down. After that, Bridgewater became aware of PTSD’s omission from the state’s qualifying conditions for medical cannabis.
This began his fight to create change. “Rather than continue to keep asking for permissions [to get PTSD added], I just did it.” His efforts include speaking before lawmakers at sessions, advocating on the state and federal levels and being a fixture in the New Jersey/New York cannabis community – with efforts reaching further out as well.