Bills have been introduced in Louisiana, Texas, Maryland, Florida, Arkansas, South Dakota, Kansas, Washington, Nebraska, Kentucky, Virginia, North Dakota, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Indiana, Utah, Tennessee, California, Delaware, Michigan that have the potential to end the retail hemp industry. This would affect hemp based foods and cannabinoid products like CBD and CBN.

Trulieve and other MSOs are financing SB 1676 and HB 1474 in Florida which limits  the total THC in hemp products and would ban delta-8 and the majority of full spectrum hemp CBD products. The War on Hemp

Florida SB 1676 and HB 1475 would limit total THC in hemp products to 0.5 mg per serving and 2 mg per package, restrict these products to adults, and likely result in a ban of delta-8 THC. Arbitrary and overly restrictive THC limits will destroy the hemp products market, and age limitations for non-intoxicating products and criminalization of delta-8 go too far 

SB 903 and HB 2294 are meant to distinguish between non-intoxicating hemp products and intoxicating adult-use cannabis, but their many concerning provisions would destroy the hemp and CBD industries in Virginia. The War on Hemp

Washington SB 5367 and HB 1612 sets overly restrictive THC limits for hemp products. SB 5367 imposes limits of 0.5 mg of THC per unit and 1.5 mg per package, while HB 1612 sets limits of 1 mg and 3 mg. Products that exceed these limits would be treated the same as cannabis products. The War on Hemp

The Women’s Cannabis Chamber of Commerce is hosting a series of Chamber Roundtables on Zoom to discuss the economic and consumer impact. Please join us to better understand what these bills mean and what actions can be taken to prevent their passage.

The Washington Post called Larisa Bolivar  “one of the city’s [Denver] most well-known proponents of decriminalizing marijuana nationally,” Larisa came to Denver in 2001 as a medical cannabis refugee. She immediately began assisting patients in navigating the early and complicated process of finding doctors who would recommend cannabis and matchmaking them with registered caregivers in an effort to create safe access in a legally ambiguous space. A cannabis career and company began.

Larisa founded Caregivers for Safe Access and helped thousands of patients with registering for medical marijuana cards. Caregiver for Safe Access was renamed the Colorado Compassion Club and in 2005 the first dispensaries in Colorado prior to 2008. (Regulations were created in 2010). In 2008, she returned to the DC area where she’s from and continued her cannabis advocacy work while simultaneously working for a billion dollar valued clean tech company.

Her activism, advocacy, expertise and commitment to patients’ rights moved her into the national spotlight. She has published articles in respected publications such as the Denver Post, and in 2017, she published the Cannabis Consumers Coalition: 2017 Report on Cannabis Consumer Demographics and Consumption Habits that was mentioned by Forbe’s, Entrepreneur and Investing News. A well-recognized global expert on cannabis policy, industry and business, Larisa Bolivar has been featured and quoted in multiple publications and speaks on a variety of cannabis business and advocacy topics at major conferences around the globe.

Larisa was named one of the 2019 “Top 100 People You Should Know”by Hemp Connoisseur Magazine. She has been recognized as an industry pioneer by Sensi Media in the first issue of Sensi Magazine, Colorado 2016. In her 2020 interview with Westword, Larisa talks about the realities of the Colorado cannabis industry. 

In 2014, Larisa founded the Cannabis Consumer Coalition, 501(C)(3), which promotes consumer advocacy and education.  She has also served as co-chair on the board of the National Diversity Inclusion Cannabis Alliance (NDICA) and on the board of Colorado NORML.

The mission of the Cannabis Consumers Coalition is to provide cannabis consumers with a voice in the growing cannabis industry, and to ensure consumer rights and ethical behavior on behalf of cannabis-related businesses. 

In 2020, Larisa helped write and push for Colorado House Bill 1424 Social Equity in Regulated Cannabis Businesses to lay the groundwork for creating statewide social equity. Larisa’s father is a Peruvian immigrant and her multi-racial has been targeted in the War on Drugs on two continents.

Larisa has been consulting independently as Bolivar Consulting since 2008. She began writing business plans before there was market data, becoming a contributing thought leader. 

Over the years Larisa has been instrumental in winning licenses for clients in competitive states, including Nevada, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. She has written standard operating procedures and other company operating documents across multiple highly regulated markets, assisted companies in becoming more efficient and profitable, has successfully helped businesses get organized and prepared for mergers and acquisitions and further provides organizational development support.

Larisa Bolivar is the owner and founder of Bolivar Hemp Company. Bolivar Hemp Company was years in the making, starting with a dream, and then bringing that dream to a reality in December 2018. The company launched with 9 products and two lines and is in the process of a reorganization in Oklahoma.

Currently, Larisa is also the chief operations and compliance officer for HPF Productions which produces flower for Moss Greenery under the brand Higher Power Flowers, which is marketed as Higher Power Flowers produced by Moss Greenery.

Larisa Bolivar continues to advocate for consumer rights, accountability in the cannabis industry and social equity and justice. 

Suzan Nickelson made history when she was awarded a New Jersey medicinal dispensary license in the NJ RFP 2019 round. Then she made news when Holistic Solutions opened on February 10th, 2023, in Waterford Township N.J.

Holistic Solutions is a 4,000 square foot dispensary with 11 POS stations for seamless purchasing, a private consultation room for discussions with onsite medical professionals, and a drive-thru window. Holistic Solutions provides compassionate care and education to patients enrolled in New Jersey’s Medicinal Cannabis Program. 

Suzan Nickelson has curated an assortment of THC and CBD products, including flower, pre-rolls, edibles, tinctures, vaporizers, concentrates, ingestibles, topicals, accessories, its own strain called “Girlie” after Suzan’s mother, Elaine Campbell-Cohen.

Holistic Solutions stocks its shelves with products from independent entrepreneurs such as Miss Grass cannabis, artisan jewelry from Jamaican designer Kristie Stephenson, and women and BIPOC-owned cannabis brands.

“When you walk in, you’ll see art, culture—you’ll see some great cannabis and you’ll feel welcome,” Suzan said. “Cannabis teaches that out of many people we are one. We believe cannabis is a universal incubator. It’s a connector and we’re looking to connect.”

Holistic Solutions opened with 10 employees including women, minorities, veterans, and others who are normally underrepresented in the workforce. Suzan’s business plans include keeping about a third of its payroll for people living in the immediate area.She understands the value of investing in the community and in people.

Suzan started developing Holistic Solutions five years ago while working full time and raising three children as a single mother. She had been working in the cannabis market for over twenty years. And is the CEO of Ital Daughters LLC, a cannabis and hemp consulting company that helps minorities, women, and veterans understand the compliance and regulatory aspects of the industry.

“Like the women who raised me, I believe cannabis is a plant of reverence and spirituality that has been given to people to heal – however intentional stigmatization led to what we went through in the War on Drugs that disproportionately hurt entire communities of Black and brown people. This is what fueled me to work relentlessly to open the doors of Holistic Solutions,” stated Suzan Nickelson. “The women in my family passed down generational knowledge of working with various herbs for healing and spirituality to me, and I look forward to using that knowledge to run my own cannabis business so others can understand just how powerful this plant can be in a pursuit of wellness and healing.”

“I used my own seed money and started my company on my iPhone 6,” Nickelson told MarketWatch. “We felt that plant-based medicine was an option that many people should have, so we pursued that.”

Suzan, attributes Marissa Edmonds, chairwoman of New Jersey-based optical components maker Edmund Optics Inc. with helping to open doors for her in the business community. 

Holistic Solutions also received backing from The Collective. The Collective was launched in April 2022, by Patrick Jonsson, a former Northeast Regional President for Curaleaf.

Suzan Nickelson has done more than opening a dispensary; she is dispelling the myths and stigma around cannabis and paving the way for women entrepreneurs. She is honoring her rich Jamaican heritage and the generations of women herbalists in her family. Suzan Nicleson has just begun her journey into the history of women of color trailblazers in the cannabis industry.

Sheva Pekar, the Founder and CEO of PsyCann Advisors, a Colorado cannabis and psychedelic consulting company. Sheva is an advocate for research and education and is at the forefront of the decriminalization and legalization of magic mushrooms in Colorado.

She has been an advocate for cannabis industry clients since 2014, providing strategic industry vision and a long-term supportive approach to business development. As the cannabis industry’s success continues to pave the way for other psychedelic forms of healing and access, Sheva continues to  provide entrepreneurs with experience-based guidance, mentorship, and business strategy.

“We are passionate about developing custom and personalized service packages using our expertise and experience to seamlessly align your business’s cannabis and psychedelic vision with current regulations and industry standards.”

Kevin Matthews  joins Sheva Pekar for conversations about Psilocybin, Kevin Matthews is the CVO and Founder of Helix Consulting Group, Designated Representative for the Natural Medicine Health Act, Coalition Director of Natural Medicine Colorado, President of Denver Psilocybin Mushroom Policy Review Panel and the Founder of Vote Nature.

Kevin Matthews is the Representative for the Natural Medicine Health Act, Coalition Director of Natural Medicine Colorado, President of Denver Psilocybin Mushroom Policy Review Panel and the Founder of Vote Nature.