Recent Stories by Anne-Marie Fischer

Charlotte’s Web, the cannabis company responsible for turning CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta into a medical marijuana believer filed for an IPO worth C$100 million. Priced at C$7.00 a share, shares began trading on Thursday and closed that day at C$9.70 under the symbol CWEB. The company and the selling shareholders will be receiving gross proceeds of $93,185,050 and $6,914,950, respectively.

Late last week, Charlottes’ Web Holdings, Inc., announced an offering for an aggregate of 14,300,000 common shares, which consisted of a treasure issuance by the company of 13,312,150 shares, and a secondary offering of 987,850 common shares. The common shares are being offered for sale by Canaccord Genuity Corp, acting as lead underwriter.

15 Canadian shareholders have entered into an underwriting agreement with Charlotte’s Web Holdings, Inc, following a public offering of common shares within Canada in the company.

Charlotte’s Web Holdings Inc is the exclusive provider of Charlotte’s Web. The high-quality hemp CBD extract was created by Stanley Brothers (now SEDAR), and gained infamy as little Charlotte Figi, turned to the CBD extract for relief from daily seizures. Charlotte has gone on to live a healthy, happy, and active life, and Charlotte’s Web has become one of the most noted CBD-rich cannabis strains in the cannabis market. The products of the company include tinctures, capsules, and topical products.

The company had $40 million in revenue for 2017 for a 35% EBITDA margin. This is a 172% growth over 2016’s revenue of $14.7 million. E-commerce sales have grown by 60% from 2016 to 2017 and it is sold in 2,700 retail locations. The product has 14% of the market share and is the number one brans by market share.

With regards to the legality of hemp, the company said in its filing, “The Company’s position is that its activities fall within the relief from federal interference (e.g. by the DEA) provided by Section 7606 of the 2014 Farm Bill. However, the statute does not explicitly state that private businesses, such as the Company, may cultivate or conduct commercial sales of Industrial Hemp or products derived therefrom. Rather, Section 7606 specifically allows for the ‘‘growing or cultivation of Industrial Hemp’’ for the ‘‘purposes of research’’ pursuant to state ‘‘pilot programs’’ conducted by ‘‘institutions of higher education and State departments of agriculture’’.”

CWB grows its proprietary hemp on farms leased in northeastern Colorado and sources high-quality hemp
through contract farming operations in Kentucky and Oregon. CWB has cultivation plans for approximately 300 acres of irrigated farmland from ten farms in three states for the 2018 growing season, of which, 165 acres are expected to be planted with CWB’s proprietary hemp genetics during the 2018 calendar year. Management believes these 300 acres will produce an estimated 250,000 to 350,000 pounds of Industrial Hemp during the 2018 harvest period (dependent on the regional yield variables associated with growing Industrial Hemp).

Selling shareholders have allowed Canaccord Genuity Corp an over-allotment option to purchase up to an aggregate of 2,145,000 common shares at the offering price. This is exercisable in whole or in part for a period of 30 days of the closing of the offering, expected to occur on or about August 30, 2018.

Following closing, common shares will commence trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol “CWEB”. The CSE has conditionally approved the listing of common shares, subject to fulfilling requirements.

Aiko Trust, CK&J Irrevocable Trust, Master and A Hound Irrevocable Trust, Paulina Irrevocable Trust, Tristan 2 Arlo Irrevocable Trust, Blue Water Irrevocable Trust, J. Austin Stanley, Arvesa Corp., Kristi Fontenot, Little Sis Trust, Lynn Kehler, Proverbs 31 Woman Irrevocable Trust, M, C and C Special Needs Trust, Graham Carlson and Old Faithful Trust are among the shareholders that have gone into an agreement with the underwriting company.

A copy of the Prospectus can be found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com

Constellation Brands’ (STZ) investment in Canopy Growth Corp. (CGC) of 104.5 million shares was based on “a big speculative bet on marijuana”, according to Moody Corporation’s Senior Vice President Linda Montag.

Montag wrote in her report, “There is significant uncertainty around the ultimate demand for cannabis and its derivative products, including cannabis-infused beverages. Legalization in many markets, including the US, also remains uncertain, as does pricing and regulatory dynamics in markets that have legalized. Potential liabilities or litigation could also arise.”

The investment is the largest of the cannabis industry so far.

Canopy immediately acquired proceeds of C$5 billion from the liquor giant, who saw an opportunity to enter the cannabis space amidst legalization. Rob Sands, CEO of Constellation Brands told Green Market Report last week of the acquisition. “Over the past year, we’ve come to better understand the cannabis market, the tremendous growth opportunity it presents, and Canopy’s market-leading capabilities in this space. We look forward to supporting Canopy as they extend their recognized global leadership position in the medical and recreational cannabis space.”

For Constellation, the investment represents an opportunity for diversification away from beverages and the U.S.; having an ownership stake in Canopy assures Constellation access to high-quality supply, production, and R&D. The partnership will represent an extension not only into cannabis beverages, but also edibles, vaping, and medicinal products.

Montag classifies the investment as “defensive play” against cannabis replacing alcoholic beverages in social settings.

Too Much Debt

In addition to the issue surrounding the potential for cannabis-infused beverages, Montag had serious concerns about the deleveraging for Constellation. She wrote that Constellation’s $4 billion investment to increase its share in Canopy Growth turns into a nearly 40% leverage, taking debt/EBITDA to the mid-to-high 4 times range from 3.8 times at the quarter ended in May. “We have previously said that leverage above 4 times could lead us to consider a ratings downgrade,” wrote Montag.

According to studies, alcohol consumption has dropped up to 15% in states where cannabis has been made legal. “Constellation will gain the opportunity to be involved from the ground up, and to take a leadership position in the space. Moody sees this investment as “the biggest opportunity for disrupting the alcoholic beverage business since the repeal of prohibition.”

For Canopy, the investment will allow expansion into the 30 countries that have medical marijuana laws. As a result of the announcement of the investment, Canopy Growth stock jumped to a high of $33 on the news before slipping closer to $30.

As the July 1 regulations had most California cannabis companies scrambling to meet compliance standards for cannabis products, two companies implemented the best practices they had been planning since January 1 and are now dominating the California cannabis industry.

Headset, a real-time data source for the cannabis industry released their Insights Report where Caliva and Papa & Barkley are creeping up to the top, holding 50 top-10 rankings across the state of California.

Smoking Sensations

Caliva is leading in the flower, pre-roll and vape categories, proudly showcasing information about the testing standards completed for phase II compliance in California. The San Jose based retailer offers some of the industry’s finest pre-rolls, including “House Doobies” and Dogwalkers, and Toasties, rolled into the Caliva Collection.

By passing the California cannabis standards that came into effect July 1, in regards to packaging, testing, labeling, using child- and tamper-proof technology, and using prominent wording on labeling, Caliva rose to the top.

“We started preparing for July 1 regulations in earnest by January 1st. It wasn’t easy,” says Dennis O’Malley, CEO of Caliva. “We cycled through a couple different testing labs until we felt confident we found the best.”

From the consumer perspective, it was the trust that customers feel in the Caliva experience. “Trust means providing a pristinely compliant product that does what it claims to do every time,” says O’Malley, “At Caliva, we are obsessed about delivering the products the consumers want in the manner and channel of where and how they would like to purchase.”

The Caliva Collection is an excellent example of the best practices in packaging, labeling, and engaging the customer experience.

Topical and Tincture Trailblazers

Papa & Barkley is dominating the California cannabis industry in the way of cannabis tinctures and topicals. Their strategies began early with an “all hands on deck” approach to the changing packaging and labeling regulations. In the ever-changing industry, they never see their job as complete, “We are currently working on flexible on-demand packaging systems in anticipation of more regulation changes,” says Kimberly Dillon, CMO.

Of their success in topicals, Dillon attributes ease of use and a demand for non-psychoactive products; “Topicals are an easy introduction to use as a wellness product,” Dillon says.

Providing products ranging from balms to patches, to body oils, to body soaks under the Releaf brand, Papa & Barkley provides clear labeling on both their products and on their website. Tinctures and capsules allow oral ingestion for those who are looking to use cannabis without smoking or vaping.

When Preparation Meets Opportunity

It required a strong investment to get cannabis products up to snuff for California’s regulations. “We did not predict the large impact that the July 1 regulations would have on the industry,” says Caliva’s O’Malley, “We took our lumps in Q1 of this year,” in preparation for the July 1 regulations.

For Papa & Berkley, the process is continuously evolving as they come out with new product lines and anticipate new regulation changes, demonstrating the need to be nimble in the industry.

Both companies are seeing new opportunities emerge and are working those into their strategies. “Products need to fit into consumers’ daily lives and for the vast majority of the new cannabis consumer, there needs to be micro-dosed options,” says O’Malley. Caliva plans to release products marketed as “fun for you”, “good for you”, and “relief for you” to help consumers get their best cannabis experience.

For Papa & Berkley, it’s all about helping people use tinctures and topicals to explore the vast array of products and medical cannabis therapies available to people. “Some portion of the [new user] cannabis cohort will graduate into other form factors and use cases,” says Dillon. The company plans to expand into new product lines under the Releaf brand, including Whole Plant CBD products that will allow those who aren’t in legal states to access the benefits of their award-winning products.

As new companies emerge, and existing companies merge to pool resources for compliance regulations that are ever-changing, Caliva and Papa & Berkley serve as excellent models of the way for cannabis product best practices in California and across the industry.

There’s something rotten, it seems, in the state of CBD Naturals and its CBD-related claims.

When Jared Berry’s brand CBD Naturals was recently selected as the exclusive distributor of a premier hops/humulus CBD isolate in the United States, he may or may not have expected that he would soon be served with a lawsuit.

The lawsuit comes off the heels of a contentious debate about the origin and trademark rights to extracting CBD from hops (the process trademarked humulus kriya), for which credit is to go to Peak Health Center. The process proves to be promising for CBD medicine as it as a derivative of a legal substance, promising consumers access to CBD in states that have laws against hemp or cannabis CBD.

Peak Health Center is loudly disputing the claims by Berry and CBD Naturals, which the filed complaint cites as a Vancouver-based business under the publicly traded Isodiol International Inc. (OTC: “ISOLF”), that a signed agreement has allowed him to exclusively sell hops-derived CBD products, with Peak Health Center citing no such agreement in existence.

When contacted for comment, Isodiol International denies any relationship with Jared Berry or CBD Naturals. “Jared Berry is not an officer, director, or fiduciary of Isodiol, Iso LLC, or any of the Isodiol Companies,” says Mike Parmar of Isodiol Investor Relations. “Therefore, we presently do not have a role in the aforementioned lawsuit or any disputes between those parties.”

It does seem that Berry was a shareholder at one time according to a press release that stated he sold his shares. In addition to that, he appears in a video with CFN Media in which he identifies himself as the President of Isodiol. Peak Health also provided a Bloomberg company profile snapshot that listed Berry as being on the board of Isodiol. So, Isodiol seems to be distancing itself from Berry and Peak did not include Isodiol on the lawsuit, but there is still a well-documented connection.

Federal and State Offenses

The lawsuit of Peak Health Center vs. CBD Naturals includes several claims, including the federal offenses of trademark infringement, unfair competition, false designation of origin, false representation, false advertising, and violations of California Business & Professional Code and Unfair Competition Law.

Peak Health Center, holder of the trademark for “ImmunAG™”, filed the claims following a press release from CBD Naturals announcing its exclusive distribution rights of hops/humulus CBD isolate.

“We are honored to be selected as the exclusive U.S. distributor and look forward to enhancing our growing product line,” said Jared Berry, who identifies as a member of the board of CBD Naturals, in the June press release that kicked off the lawsuit.

Considered a medical breakthrough for the cannabis industry, CBD Naturals claims their developments have led to products that are the first fully legal CBD products, and prides themselves on being the first company to trademark “CBD”.

According to the complaint documents, the dispute challenges an agreement that was signed between Isodiol and Peak Health Center to distribute ImmunAG™, which did not include any exclusivity rights. Following this agreement, Jared Berry was quoted in press releases saying that Isodiol scientists had developed the kriya product. This was contrary to any agreement signed by Peak Health Center as to the origins of the hops-derived CBD trademark, and the exclusivity of the distribution rights to Isodiol.

“We are not aware of any intellectual properties in which Peak Health claims an interest being unlawfully used or relied upon by Jared Berry or the unknown entity referred to as CBD Naturals,” said Isodiol’s Parmar.

Peak Health Center, in their filing, calls Berry’s words “false and misleading to trade and consumers”.

Medical Marijuana, Inc. is now the company’s only US distributors. According to this article on Seeking Alpha, Medical Marijuana lost several employees to Isodiol so there seems to be quite a bit of bad blood between these two companies.

A Strange Saga Unfolds

Following the press release, Dr. Bomi Joseph, one of the defendants in the lawsuit later filed against Berry and CBD Naturals, reportedly tried to connect with Berry to discuss the use of the kriya trademark. “I thought ‘this must be an understanding, maybe the press got it wrong,” says Dr. Bomi of Peak Health Center. “My friend then sent me Isodiol’s press release with these claims and I tried to get in touch with the company but they went dark. This is what caused me to terminate my contract with them,” he describes of the time after the press release came out.

“Months later I received the CBD Naturals press release claiming that they were selling ‘CBD from Hops.’ We don’t use the terminology “Hops derived CBD” but it is clearly meant to refer to our product. We also have the trademark for “Kriya” and that trademark was violated by Jared Berry and CBD Naturals. I sent [Jared Berry] a “cease and desist” via email but never heard back. My lawyers tried to contact him several times but to no avail.”

Peak Health Center noted in a press release that “only press releases issued, jointly or singly, by Peak Health should be considered an authentic press release on Hops/Humulus derived CBD.”

“Peak Health has to protect both its trademarks and intellectual property – we hope that both CBD Naturals and Isodiol understands that,” says Bomi, “At this moment we do not have any new extracts planned for trademark but we hope to continue to do plant-based research and find other CBD solutions in the future.”

Isodiol is clear that they are not affiliated with CBD Naturals or Jared Berry: “To the extent, Peak Health has made fact allegations that reference Isodiol, Iso LLC, or any of the Isodiol Companies, there are many factual inaccuracies contained in the complaint.”

“While Isodiol continues to believe there are interesting opportunities concerning hops-derived cannabinoids and other medicinal compounds, such as beta-caryophyllene,” says Parmar, “Isodiol chose to shift its focus away from hops sources because the company believes there are less costly and more readily available opportunities with industrial hemp and cannabis, which are being bolstered by new positive legal developments on a regular basis.”

Where Is Jared Berry?

Recent reports from Peak Health is that Jared Berry remains somewhat enigmatic after being served. One source said he is apparently “hiding out” in an RV outside the CBD Naturals Building. While he will not respond to Peak Health Center, he is reportedly taking meetings and phone calls.

This strange lawsuit saga seems to be a game of “he said, he said, he said”, as the origin of the trademark for kriya is determined and exactly who is involved in the claimed trademark infringement.

“The playing field is still not level,” says Amy Margolis, founder of The Commune in Old Town Portland, Oregon, “I finally reached my breaking point of being the only woman in rooms full of men doing cannabis deals.”

Margolis’ extensive experience led her to one of her most proud endeavors in the cannabis business: The Commune and its in-house program The Initiative.

The Commune is a 4,000 square event, office and boardroom space, where cannabis women cannabis entrepreneurs thrive within the business accelerator. The space is filled with energy, inspiration, and of course, elevation. Women cannabis entrepreneurs can participate in classes, boot camps, incubator opportunities, speaker events, coworking, infused dinners, conference room rentals, and most importantly are offered the opportunity to participate in The Initiative.

The Initiative is an accelerator program specifically for women cannabis entrepreneurs and executives. Margolis developed The Initiative to rebalance the gender discrepancy in the cannabis industry.

“In this space which is competitive, capital intensive and requires businesses to be beyond nimble, having strong and stable mentors, immersive business support and access to funding is crucial,” says Margolis describing her interest in supporting women entrepreneurs, “The Initiative is aiming to be women’s educational network, mentoring system and growth facilitator.”

Margolis has had a long career within cannabis that has led her to create this intensive accelerator program for women cannabis entrepreneurs within The Commune. Named on The Political 100 and 50 Most Important Women in Cannabis by Cannabis Business Executive (CBE), and one of the 40 Under 40 to Watch in Oregon Politics by The Portland Business Journal, Margolis has long recognized the unique needs for women in cannabis.

“After suggesting [male colleagues in cannabis] add female board members, promote women in their companies and include women in decision making, to little effect, I came to the conclusion that we could not count on men to bring women along with them,” says Margolis, “I realized that women are going to need to do this for themselves and a program like The Initiative could support them and increase their chance of success.”

The Initiative is supported by a remarkable board of directors including Dr. Amanda Reiman, Dr. Janice Knox, Rick Turoczy, Emily Paxhia, Mowgli Holmes, AC Braddock, Glynis Olson, Katie Kiernan, Joshua Goldstein, Carlos Perea, and foundational sponsors iAnthus Capital and Miller Nash. The board of directors endeavors to provide leadership, guidance and broad networking to ensure the success of every selected applicant.

“This program is really for, and I am inspired by, all of the women who have bootstrapped their businesses, withstood ever-changing regulations, created amazing and innovative products, and are still here through legalization’s challenges,” says Margolis, who is also the founder of the Oregon Cannabis Association. “After watching these women maneuver through the morass of this industry, I knew we could actually create a program that would manifest meaningful and seismic change.”

The Initiative is a by-application only program, where acceptance will be granted by the board of directors. Enrollment will be open to all women cannabis leaders nationwide on September 1, 2018, with a preference toward product makers and innovators. More information can be found at www.intheinitiative.com

The Commune will be hosting a cannabis industry open-house on Thursday, August 16 at 4pm, where those who attend can learn about the space, programming, and rental opportunities. More information about The Initiative will be available.

Cannabis consumers, businesses and investors can help address the gender discrepancy in cannabis businesses by supporting women-owned cannabis businesses and their products and services, “Unless we dedicate resources directly to women-owned and operated businesses, we will never be able to fully address these discrepancies.”

(Editors Note: The story is contributed content from LeafGuru)

With national legalization set for October 17, many Canadians will admit they haven’t felt overly informed on how the legal industry unfolds in their province.

Sales, marketing, industry participation, cultivation regulations, and who can do what in which province makes Canadian cannabis seem complicated, and not something Canadian’s cannabis users have completely warmed to.

“I really don’t know much about the new legal cannabis retail stores,” says Kitchener, Ontario resident Stacey when asked whether she’ll access one of the new Ontario Cannabis Stores near her, “I understand the privilege of legal cannabis, but I don’t feel there’s been enough communication from the governments about what will be available to us.” For many, the recent amendments to Bill-C45 that were recently proposed provided no more clarity than before.

Canadians deserve to be more informed about legal cannabis, and a new information hub is stepping in to connect Canadians to the legal recreational cannabis experience.

Time to Bridge the Knowledge Gap

A team of web developers in Alberta have been quietly working towards building the central and premier hub for cannabis information for Canada, across all provinces and territories, from sea-to-sea.

Leaf Guru had their soft launch on earlier this month, presenting Canadians a resource to help them get up to speed on the ins-and-outs of the cannabis plant, and what legal cannabis means for the country.

“The months leading up to the provincial implementation of legal cannabis provide an opportunity for all Canadians to increase their literacy on the cannabis plant,” said CEO and Founder of Leaf Guru, Cam Edwards, “Leaf Guru seeks to go back to the basics of cannabis and rebuild what we know about the plant in the legal context in Canada.”

The site shows all Canadians where you can get legal cannabis, what products are available, and unites all developments in Canada’s provinces and territories into one resource.

Supporting the Shift from Grey Markets to Legal Markets

Canada has had a legal cannabis market since 2001 when Canadians were able to access a medical cannabis prescription through one of Health Canada’s 101 Licenced Producers (LPs). As of December 2017, 269,502 Canadians accessed medical cannabis through physician’s prescriptions and LPs.

Despite the medical cannabis user numbers being relatively low considering Canada’s over 36 million population, recreationally, millions of Canadians have been accessing and using cannabis for decades.

According to Statistics Canada, $5.7 billion dollars was spent in 2017 by 4.9 million cannabis-consuming Canadians in Canada; which includes both medicinal and recreational cannabis. Not surprisingly, 90% of money spent on cannabis by Canadians is for non-medicinal (or recreational) purposes.

“On October 17, cannabis will finally be legal for Canadians to purchase, possess, and cultivate for personal use,” says Edwards, “It’s important for all Canadians, no matter where they live in the country, to know their legal rights and privileges in this new age of legal cannabis,” he added.

A specific feature of Leaf Guru, and its decision to launch so close to the date of legal cannabis is to ensure that it is a legal-market only resource. The team watched what happened to similar platforms in the U.S. unfold when they were still promoting grey and black-market participation on their platforms.

“All cannabis retail locations and Licenced Producers listed on our site are licensed by either their local municipality or the federal government to operate legally. We will not promote any stores or operations that are not licensed and are deemed illegal,” said Edwards about this approach, “We want to be a place where folks interested in knowing about the upcoming cannabis industry in Canada can go and feel comfortable in knowing that what they are reading is accurate, true, and created within the context of legal cannabis only.”

Canada’s One Stop Cannabis Information Shop

Leaf Guru addresses almost every aspect of legal cannabis in Canada that many are unclear on with the provincial approach to national legalization.

The site fills Canadians in on cannabis’ past in Canada, and the path to legalization. It brings the public accessible information about the societal, health, and economic perspectives of cannabis as it takes its place as a legal activity.

The thoughtfully curated content deconstructs the cannabis plant back to basics to help Canadians understand exactly what cannabis is rather than what the age of prohibition has led them to believe it to be.

A source for new users and cannabis connoisseurs alike, Leaf Guru is a one-stop shop for everything Canadian cannabis. Seeking to unite provinces and territories under our new era of legal cannabis, Leaf Guru promotes the duty to respect the confines of the law, while celebrating the large role that cannabis has always played in Canada’s culture.

HARDCAR Security is a veteran-led organization that leverages the specific skills and talents of ex-military officers for its staff. It provides the cannabis industry with a variety of high-tech services aimed at protecting their cash, cannabis, and people with military-grade security, calling itself a “game-changer” within the industry and it does this with the help of veterans.

The company’s service model was borne from the specific competencies that veterans bring to their services of transporting medical cannabis, and protecting cannabis grow operations. HARDCAR embraces the professionalism and leadership experience from the military and applies it to the high-stakes cannabis environment.

Impacting Veterans Employment

Aside from its goal to become the most high-tech cannabis security service in the nation, HARDCAR aspires to make a positive impact on veterans’ employment statistics and their associated narratives in the country.

The post-9/11 veterans faced a significantly high unemployment rate during re-integration into civilian society, many believing that it was due to the stigma associated with PTSD, with rates being as high as 12.1% in 2011. At this time, veterans were falling behind their non-service professional counterparts in snagging the jobs they were qualified for.

In 2016, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation reported that proactive employment programs like the “Hire our Heroes” contributed to cutting veterans’ unemployment in half.
The end of 2017 showed a decrease in the unemployment rate of the country’s veterans over the previous year from 4.1 in 2016, falling to 3.8%, according to the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service.

While the unemployment numbers have fallen and show every reason to be positive, underemployment is a different issue. Many veterans are returning to professional life with advanced skills that are hard to find a place for and are finding jobs in which their underutilized, resulting in a lack of professional fulfillment.

Returning To Civilian Life

“It can be very difficult to find your place in the world after serving in the military,” says Aaron Augustis, a former Sergeant and Combat Engineer in the U.S. Army, Airborne, “I experienced difficulty with my transition back into civilian life. I would have uncontrollable waves of emotions that would hit me.”

Todd Kleperis, a former veteran, and founder and CEO of HARDCAR refers to the 8 full-time and 20 part-time employees as “instant coffee”, as they are ready-equipped and highly-trained to get the job done. “Our ‘boots on the ground’ combat experience is essential to our success,” describes Augustis, “Situational awareness, flexibility, adaptability, discipline, focus and motivation and some of the personal qualities that each of our veterans brings to the work.”

“Each canna run or money run is a mission,” Augustis says of millions of dollars of cash and cannabis moved across California by HARDCAR, “Running missions with a purpose of providing safe medicine and knowing that our training and experience can still be put to use in civilian world gives us a sense of purpose again.”

The Everyday Realities of PTSD

Some days Augustis would find himself literally immobilized in fear. He’d be thinking of where he had been serving in Iraq, how dangerous the situations were that he had been in, and the fact that he nearly escaped death too many times. These thoughts replayed over and over in his mind to the point that he couldn’t work, and ended up dropping out of the program he’d enrolled in at a community college.

Augustis’ story isn’t uncommon. Thousands of veterans are returning home with the difficulty of having to reintegrate into the professional world while struggling with symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). “My bottled-up emotions that I had suppressed in Iraq began to burst out,” Augustus recalls about the time in his life he just couldn’t seem to cope enough to focus on rebuilding his life after combat. Desperate to bring stability back into his life, he looked to medicinal cannabis in his home state of California.

Finding Hope In Cannabis

“By using cannabis, I was able to slow things down in my mind and be more present and stable,” says Augustis, who is now meaningfully contracted within the cannabis industry in California. “I have first-hand experience when dealing with combat-related PTSD and know how cannabis helps. To deprive others of medical cannabis who are experiencing PTSD symptoms is not morally right.”
Now able to cope with the symptoms of his PTSD, Augustis has become a critical link for access to cannabis for veterans. Augustis enjoys a role as Veterans’ Services Liaison with HARDCAR Security, a company providing advanced safety, transportation, and security services to the cannabis industry.

“HARDCAR gives us that opportunity to serve our nation again by providing safe and reliable access to medical cannabis,” says Augustis.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Kleperis states when asked why HARDCAR focuses on veterans’ employment, “We like their attitude. Our employees are happy and are doing something they love. What else matters?”

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Author: Anne-Marie Fischer

Recent Stories by Anne-Marie Fischer

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