Roger Stone Removed From Cannabis Business Expo

The Cannabis World Congress & Business Expo (CWCBE) released a press release on Wednesday announcing the decision to drop Roger Stone as the event’s keynote speaker in both Los Angeles, California and Boston, Massachusetts.

Many believe Stone’s presence at the events, in any capacity, would be inappropriate. Stone praised a book that denies that the Holocaust happened, telling its author James Fetzer, “There’s really nobody in the researcher community that I respect more than you,” on his radio show, and also praised other Holocaust deniers such as Victor Thorn. Stone’s long list of undeleted racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic and otherwise offensive tweets is well-known among the cannabis community. Stone’s active presence on Twitter, advocates argue, has encouraged relentless trolling from members of white supremacists, including focused attacks on Rep. Debbie Shultz and Carly Fiorina.

A petition was released on Change.org calling for Stone’s removal. “Inviting Mr. Stone to speak to the crowd, especially as we see the rise of overt racism and anti-Semitism, is an affront to the very movement you purport to promote, the industry and all who are involved,” the petition reads.

A large number of cannabis advocates threatened to completely avoid the Los Angeles date if the event’s organizers didn’t drop Stone from his participation, forcing the expo’s organizers to act on the situation. The press release, however, did not detail who would be the replacement keynote speaker.

Stone is an informal advisor to President Donald Trump, and he is a medical cannabis supporter. Stone has already spoken at one CWCBE event held last June in New York City, but his presence didn’t arouse the anger like his planned speeches in Los Angeles in September and Boston in October.

The Los Angeles CWBExpo takes place on September 13-15 at the Los Angeles Convention Center with speakers including Rev. Al Sharpton and a large number of other cannabis business executives.