Featured Advocate Ian Barringer

Name: Ian Barringer

Occupation: Owner, Rm3 Labs Colorado

When and how did you become an advocate for cannabis?

My wife is a medical marijuana patient, and in 2009 she was suffering a terrible flare-up of an autoimmune condition. She was using medical marijuana to manage her pain and the side effects of her prescription drugs, but I realized that there was no real quality control for the marijuana products she was using. The more I looked, the more fascinated I became with the science and technology of marijuana. So I leapt in, and now we’re the oldest and one of the largest marijuana testing labs in the state.

How has cannabis benefited your life?

I’ve seen first-hand how it has helped my wife, and how it’s helped friends and family with conditions from Crohn’s Disease to epilepsy. For many, it has given them quality of life that they hadn’t had for years. And, of course, it has allowed me to build a thriving business, supporting 20 employees and their families.

What’s your greatest achievement for the cannabis cause?

I think it’s been a lot of little victories—helping individuals find their ideal products, helping companies grow by maximizing the quality of their products, helping ease the regulators out of their “zero tolerance” attitude for marijuana.

Who do you look up to or admire?

I truly admire the families who have moved to Colorado to get access to medical marijuana. They’ve disrupted their lives and torn up roots in the hope of being able to get relief. It’s our obligation to help ensure they get that relief, and, ultimately, to get that same access anywhere in the United States.

If you could change one thing about the way cannabis is viewed and/or treated right now, what would it be?

I really think we’re seeing a nationwide shift in how marijuana is being viewed—from a threat to an opportunity. Even my conservative New England family has gone from “what are you thinking?” to asking thoughtful questions about the impact of marijuana legalization in Colorado. That said, I’d love for regulators to make it easier for scientists to conduct the research we need to bring the industry to the next level. Obviously, on a federal level the DEA and NIDA stand in the way of research. But even on a state level, it’s difficult for researchers to get the permission they need to use marijuana in their laboratories and to get access to state-licensed labs for testing. We’ve worked hard over the last couple of years to change that, but there’s still a long way to go.