photo of Steve DeAngelo

Steve DeAngelo

Founder
Last Prisoner Project

Steve DeAngelo is a globally recognized cannabis thought leader and speaker who was dubbed “Father of the Legal Cannabis Industry” by Mayor of San Francisco & Speaker of the California Assembly Willie Brown. As a lifelong activist, author, educator and entrepreneur, Steve has spent almost five decades on the front lines of the cannabis freedom movement. His most notable business achievements include co-founding Harborside — one of the first six dispensaries licensed In the United States; the ArcView Group, the first dedicated cannabis investment network; and Steep Hill Laboratory, the first cannabis testing facility. Most recently, in 2019 Steve was Founder of The Last Prisoner Project, which has grown into one of the most successful organizations in the movement, winning the release of several prisoners serving life sentences.
Steve is the author of ‘The Cannabis Manifesto’ and originator of the wellness theory of understanding cannabis. He played a key role in the passage of Initiative 59, Washington DC’s medical cannabis law; the passage of Prop 64, California’s adult-use law; and successfully defended multiple legal attempts by US law enforcement agencies to shutter the doors of Harborside. His media projects include the starring role in ‘Weed Wars’, the first cannabis-oriented reality TV show, produced by the Discovery Channel in 2011; the starring role in the Ask Steve series, produced Green-Flower.com; host of the Radio Free Cannabis podcast-launched in 2020; and extensive appearances on major media outlets including CNN, FOX, MSNBC, CNBC, New York Times plus extensive global media including The London Times, Germany’s Der Spiegel, Brazil’s El Global, Italy’s Rai One, France’s La Monde and many others.
Steve has received dozens of awards for his accomplishments, including the High Times Lester Grinspoon Lifetime Achievement Award and the Peter Tosh Equal Rights Award. He was named one of the most influential people and "Gatekeeper of the Industry" in 2015 by the International Business Times, and one of the seven “Most Powerful People” in the industry by Fortune magazine. Most recently, he was honored with the Peter Tosh Equal Rights Award and became one of first two inductees into the Marijuana Business Daily Hall of Fame.
Steve’s mission is to bring the cannabis plant and cannabis freedom to every nation and every person on the planet. As Founder of the Last Prisoner Project (2019), he will not stop until the last cannabis prisoner is free. www.stevedeangelo.com

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Events featuring Steve DeAngelo
Events featuring Steve DeAngelo