Mark Slaugh

Name: Mark Slaugh

Occupation: Founder and CEO of iComply, LLC and Executive Director of the Cannabis Business Alliance (CBA)

When and how did you become an advocate for cannabis?

I have been against the war on drugs for over 15 years, but started in activism with Students for Sensible Drug Policy while attending the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs.

After graduating in 2010, my passion drove me to volunteer for over three years to help usher in the legalization of medical and retail cannabis in Colorado. I served as Membership Director for the Colorado Springs Medical Cannabis Council, advocating for the rights of businesses and patients at local and state government levels. I also served as the Southern Colorado Regional Coordinator for Amendment 64, helping to lead volunteers across Southern Colorado to securing and achieving the majority vote in conservative El Paso County and Colorado Springs on the historic amendment.

I have volunteered my time to represent and testify at the Capitol and on many working groups with state policy makers to better our regulations and laws. I am also privileged to help serve other communities outside of Colorado in understanding, implementing, and liberating medical and retail cannabis for people everywhere through sensible policy. My company helps cannabis businesses show compliance with these regulations and, in doing so, ensures a future of continued liberation and prosperity for the plant.

How has cannabis benefited your life?

Cannabis has benefited my life in countless ways, from giving me a purpose, to healing and balancing my mind, body and spirit, to helping me achieve Summa Cum Laude honors at graduation and helping my loved ones and beloved patients with their ailments from arthritis to cancer.

What’s your greatest achievement for the cannabis cause?

It is continuous, arduous work to ensure legalization across the United States and the world. I am presently engaged with lawmakers and government officials in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico with the responsibility of establishing the laws and regulations to assist as the primary consultant to implement the medical marijuana model.

On an island still arresting citizens for felony possession of even one gram of marijuana, I am honored to be influential in changing the landscape and developing the first, free-market marijuana regulatory model in Spanish.

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

I wish we could instantly take away the stigmatization and marginalization of the plant, its users and its legal status.

I especially wish policy and law makers would take the time to actually visit a cannabis business, serve as a caregiver to a patient and live as one of the oppressed victims of the drug war. It is sad how little they know about what they are developing policy around, and how easily they choose to remain ignorant because the status quo is more comfortable and promising for re-election.