Dr. David Bearman received his M.D. from the University of Washington School of Medicine. He has served at the US Public Health Service, as Director of Health Services at San Diego State, Health Officer and Director of Sutter County Health Dept. and Medical Director and Director of Medical Services for the Santa Barbara Regional Health Authority (now CenCal). He is the author of Drugs Are NOT the Devil’s Tools. He has a half-century career in the field of drug abuse treatment and prevention. He started the third Free Clinic in the country in Seattle before directing the Haight Ashbury Drug Treatment Program, and in 1970 founding the Isla Vista Medical Clinic. He was Medical Director of Santa Barbara County Methadone Maintenance Clinic and Ventura County Opiate Detox Program, and Zona Seca, an outpatient drug treatment program. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1963 with a degree in Psychology and in 1967 obtained his M.D. from the U of Washington School of Medicine. He has a private practice as a specialist in pain management and cannabinoid medicine in Goleta, California where hr lives with his wife, Lily (a career counselor). They have two children, Samantha and Benjamin.

Bruce Margolin has been relentless in his efforts to legalize marijuana since 1967. A criminal defense attorney, he has defended thousands of cannabis cases and represents clients against all types of criminal charges. In 1972, his office acted as headquarters in Southern California and as sponsor for Proposition 19 to legalize marijuana. As a candidate for CA State Assembly in 2003 and US Congress in 2012, he helped establish the credibility of marijuana legalization politics. He was an advisor for Proposition 215 (Compassionate Use Initiative, 1996) and legal counsel for the California Hemp Initiative. Margolin has served as Chairman of the Ethics Committee for National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and has been the Director Emeritus and Founder of Los Angeles NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) since 1973, the longest board member of California NORML. He was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from the ACLU, and honors for his work on behalf of the Constitution Rights Foundation. Bruce was named Criminal Defense Attorney of the Year in 1999, and as a Criminal Defense Super Lawyer in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2012. He is the author of the ongoing Margolin Guide to State and Federal Marijuana Laws. His autobiography is Down for the Cause.

Amanda Reiman, PhD, has studied cannabis for over 20 years, beginning her activism in the late 1990s with Students for Sensible Drug Policy. After moving to Oakland in 2002, she studied the early medical cannabis dispensaries and conducted one of the first surveys of medical cannabis patients. As the Director of Research and Patient Services for Berkeley Patients Group, she conducted some of the first research on cannabis and harm reduction. As the Manager of Marijuana Law and Policy for the Drug Policy Alliance she assisted in the drafting and passage of Prop. 64 in California. She was Chairwoman of the Medical Cannabis Commission for the City of Berkeley and was on the Cannabis Regulatory Commission for the City of Oakland. She is currently the Chief Knowledge Officer for New Frontier Data, founder of Personal Plants, Ganjier instructor, and Ambassador for the Cannabis Exhibit at the California State Fair.

Bill Panzer has been practicing criminal defense law for over 35 years in both State and Federal courts at the trial and appellate levels. He has a long history of activism in the areas of medical cannabis, general cannabis law reform and civil asset forfeiture reform. He is a former director of California FEAR (Forfeiture Endangers American Rights) and served on the Board of Directors for National NORML (National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws) for six years. He is on the Board of Directors for CalNORMLand its State Legal Director. He is a former High Times Freedom Fighter of the Month, two-time winner of the Sonoma Alliance for Medical Marijuana Compassion in Action award, and NORML’s Al Horn award. He is a co-author of California’s Compassionate Use Act of 1996 (Prop 215), the nation’s first medical marijuana legalization law. He has been involved in drafting and passing of various forfeiture and cannabis reform laws. Bill represented Alan Martinez in the first Prop. 215 defense case, as well as the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Club and Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Federal court. He obtained the first federal appellate ruling recognizing “sentencing entrapment” as a defense. Bill has lectured at numerous legal and patient conferences throughout the nation.

Ellen Komp became a hemp/marijuana activist in December 1991, helping to plan a series of quarterly hemp rallies held at the Federal Building in Los Angeles aimed at reviving the lost history of hemp, and at broad reform of our cannabis laws. She edited the 9th edition of Jack Herer’s book The Emperor Wears No Clothes: Hemp and the Marijuana Conspiracy. She founded VeryImportantPotheads.comin 2002, which publishes research about luminaries associated with cannabis, seeking out verification in biographies and news articles. Ellen spun off her award-winning VIP blog into the Tokin’ Woman blog in 2011. Ellen worked as a volunteer activist for LA NORML, gathered signatures for California’s Proposition 215, and was a program associate at the Lindesmith Center / Drug Policy Alliance in San Francisco. Since 2008 she has been Deputy Director of California NORML, where she helped plan historical conferences on Prop. 215 and the original Prop. 19 legalization measure in 1972. She worked at HempWorld magazine and co-founded the 215 Reporter, the first journal to report on Prop. 215’s aftermath. Ellen published her book, Tokin’ Women: A 4000-Year Herstory of Women and Marijuana in 2015.

Dr. Jeffrey Hergenrather and his wife took their family to "The Farm" in 1977, a commune where adults used cannabis for religious, recreational and medical purposes (1972 to today). They moved to California in 1982. The Sonoma Alliance for Medical Marijuana (SAMM) was founded around the time of the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, Prop 215, by volunteers (mostly women) to develop a respectful relationship with law enforcement so that patients and caregivers would be able to grow and provide marijuana for themselves and patients who were unable to cultivate cannabis. Dr. Hergenrather became one of the first referring physicians under Prop 215. Dr. Tod Mikuriya, MD brought a group of doctors together in 1999-2000 to found the California Cannabis Research Medical Group (CCRMG), a non-profit organization of physicians dedicated to the patient care, research and assisting access to approvals and cannabis. As part of CCRMG, he participated in scientific and grass-roots organizations such as Patient's Out of Time, and the International Cannabinoid Research Society to take a "place at the table." In 2007 he became CCRMG, renamed as the Society of Cannabis Clinicians, president from 2008- 2018. He has been an expert witness on medical use in numerous California courts.

Sara Payan is the host of the “Planted with Sara Payan” podcast. Sara was listed in the 100+ Most Important Women in Cannabis for 2019 and 2020. She is a subject matter expert for Self magazine and a contributing writer for Rolling Stone and Cannabis Now. Payan worked for the Apothecarium as Director of Education and Public Education Officer.She has her finger on the pulse of consumer trends and product development and has trained cannabis professionals on consumer relationship building and the art of the sale. She is an appointee to the CA Cannabis Advisory Committee and the San Francisco Cannabis Oversight Committee and former Co-Chair of the SF State Cannabis Legalization Taskforce. She has created educational and training opportunities for healthcare and higher learning institutions, policymakers and the public. A Stage III cancer survivor and former civil rights professional, Payan has taught and lectured at large healthcare organizations, higher learning institutions and public foundations such as Kaiser, UCSF and UC Berkeley Haas Business School. She has led large-scale industry training and lectures nationwide, including continuing education credit classes at accredited schools for healthcare practitioners. She created some first-to-market cannabis curricula — the first cannabis education workshop series for City College of San Francisco.

Dominic Corva, Phd received his PhD in Geography, with a graduate certificate in Law, Societies and Justice from the University of Washington (Seattle) in 2010. He is founder and Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Cannabis and Social Policy (CASP), a research and education nonprofit. His research has been published in Political Geography, the International Journal of Drug Policy, and the Lancet. He co-authored cannabis equity grant applications for Humboldt and Mendocino Counties for more than $6 million, in partnership with the CA Center for Rural policy. He is focused on cannabis markets and social equity program design, implementation, and outcomes. Corva has conducted cannabis market and policy research since 2008, when he created and taught the first Cannabis, Law and Society courses at the University of WA, Seattle. His findings have been presented by invitation to a wide array of public, private and NGO stakeholders to, among others, Americans for Safe Access, Drug Policy Alliance, International Cannabis Business Conference, Seattle Hempfest, University of Essex, Association of American Geographers, Association of Pacific Sociologists, CA Cannabis Voice, the municipalities of Berlin, Germany and Montreal, Canada, the U of WA, Clark County WA, the City of Seattle, the City of Bellingham, and Seattle Town Halls.

Pebbles Trippet has been a long-time cannabis activist in Northern California. Her name is enshrined in CA state law for the Trippet decision, in which she won a appeals court ruling that the state’s medical marijuana law, Prop 215, covers transportation of any reasonable amount of cannabis for personal medical use. More to come.