"I actually see this as a populist-movement-vs.-representative (body) issue," says Andrew Freedman, who helped set up Colorado's recreational-pot program and now consults governments on doing so.​

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"A vote of the people is much more aspirational in terms of what you want your state to look like, and the vote to implement is much more what your state will look like. And then you have to own the outcome," Freedman says.

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Andrew Freedman describes his new consulting gig with the state of Rhode Island as mostly helping with “boring, technical nerdy stuff.” But the topic he’s an expert on is anything but boring. Now, Freedman’s consulting firm has been hired by the Raimondo administration to help possibly implement recreational marijuana in Rhode Island, and make updates to the existing medical marijuana program.

Marijuana might seem to be an odd place to start on that quest. But if you view it, as Freedman does, through the lens of social justice, or economic potential, or public health, you get a picture of his mission.

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As befits a guy who helped open Pandora’s pot stash, Freedman thinks a lot about the welfare of the public. Ask him if he’s a health innovator and his answer is equal parts modest and wonky: “I would not consider myself a public-health expert,” he says. “I can get the public-health experts to weigh in on policy in an effective manner, and to actually bring those groups together to influence policy.” And in Colorado’s case, lead the grand cannabis experiment.

Freedman & Koski will partner with Advocates for Human Potential Inc. of Massachusetts, a behavioral health care consulting firm that stages a cannabis research and regulatory summit, and administers a successful opioid recovery program in Massachusetts.

Andrew Freedman joins a panel of experts to answer FAQs on the eve of cannabis legalization in Canada.

Canada’s approach offers much promise from a health perspective. “This is the most well deliberated and crafted legalization legislation in the world,” says Andrew Freedman, who led the creation of a regulatory framework for Colorado’s marijuana legalization. 

What'sThe policy may create unreasonable due diligence requirements for companies, too, said Andrew Freedman, Colorado’s former “pot czar” and now a consultant working on marijuana legalization. “Making sure that you’re not doing it is much harder than a regulatory system for doing it,” he said. this item about? What makes it interesting? Write a catchy description to grab your audience's attention...

Watch Andrew's opening statement!

Andrew Freedman, the former director of Marijuana Coordination for the state of Colorado, the “marijuana czar” and now a partner in his own consultancy, Freedman and Koski, gave the keynote address, in which he described the Colorado experience and lessons learned. He assured attendees that many of the kinks have been worked out in that state, although it is an iterative process.

The policy may create unreasonable due diligence requirements for companies, too, said Andrew Freedman, Colorado’s former “pot czar” and now a consultant working on marijuana legalization. “Making sure that you’re not doing it is much harder than a regulatory system for doing it,” he said.

Shortly before dissolving Andrew Freedman’s position as Colorado’s director of marijuana coordination, Governor John Hickenlooper stopped him outside a cabinet meeting to impart some career advice.

“He told me that he thought we should figure out how to take the lessons learned from Colorado and apply them to other states, governments and to private industry,” Freedman says. “His point was that this was a unique opportunity to be the connective tissue between all the different governments doing this and we could create a firm that does that.”

Not long after leaving Harvard Law School, Freedman was cast into an unprecedented role as the first-ever governor's director of marijuana coordination (sometimes referred to as the “marijuana czar”). Having been thrown head-first into an unprecedented role, he now runs a consulting company working with other states on policy implementation—in part to avoid repeating his mistakes in Colorado. 

Andrew Freedman, former director of marijuana coordination for the Colorado governor — he was known as the state’s “marijuana czar” — said he wasn’t surprised by the news from Washington because “Sessions always wanted to create chaos in the industry.”

eff Sessions' announcement attracted bipartisan criticism. But some legal experts are skeptical of its impact, and several states have vowed to continue their marijuana markets or plans for one.

By forcing cannabis businesses to rely on cash, the move might make businesses, owners and employees vulnerable to theft and complicate state efforts to collect taxes on drug sales.

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Pioneers from the burgeoning world of legal cannabis illuminate how any organization can overcome obstacles, seize opportunities, and rally a community.

Andrew Freedman reflected on lessons learned in the first years of legalization at the National Cannabis Summit in Denver

After leading the creation of the nation's first legal marijuana market in Colorado, Andrew Freedman took the lessons he learned and made a business out of helping states regulate the drug.

For Freedman, it’s the perfect time to look back at the impact he’s had. “It’s not perfect,” Freedman said in an interview with DOPE Magazine, “There is still work to be done around home grow regulations, but I’m happy with what we’ve accomplished here.”

'We were literally making it up,' says Colorado's former director of marijuana co-ordination, Andrew Freedman.

"Coloradans continue to act like they did before legalization."

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Freedman has gained much praise for his work within the cannabis industry, much of which came directly from Governor Hickenlooper. “Andrew Freedman has done a remarkable job shepherding Colorado through one of the great social experiments of this decade,” Hickenlooper said. “I think he has an invaluable expertise to support and assist other states as they work through issues of good government, public health and public safety. I believe he can serve as a connection between these states so we can all share lessons learned and communicate effectively with the federal government.”

“Governor John Hickenlooper of Colorado, who appointed Freedman to his current post, called him ‘probably the most knowledgable person in the United States in terms of how do you create a regulatory framework for recreational marijuana.’”

“Though the industry has bristled at some of the policies that the Hickenlooper administration has pushed, top voices in the legalization community speak highly of Freedman.”

“He regularly calls together the department heads of revenue, health, education, all the state agencies involved with marijuana - trying to balance the demands of the people with public safety and the law.”

Governor Hickenlooper: “We had this young guy, Andrew Freedman, who came in and helped us, once it was passed . . . and he’s done a remarkable job of creating a regulatory framework.”

CTV News: "Pot Paradise, part one"“He has become widely respected for how he’s handled a very big—and tough—job.”

Andrew: “I would say that [banking] is our biggest concern with marijuana right now. We have up to a $600 million industry this year alone, and that’s cash, for the most part. We see it as a big public safety issue.”

(On federal decision in 2015 not to approve a cannabis credit union) Andrew: “We thought it was a good solution to the problem. Here was a place willing to take on the risk of banking this underbanked group—and that would do rigorous compliance.”

“Freedman works closely with state government and private stakeholders, organizing twice-monthly policy meetings with the governor’s staff to help coordinate policy, identify problems that exist or may arise, and improve communication among policy staff.”

“Good conversation, worth your listen, between WGBH hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagen and Colorado’s super-smart marijuana czar, Andrew Freedman.”

It's a move that could prevent some headaches for Canadians, said John Hudak,..."The best way for Canada to deal with this issue is to be proactive. Designing information campaigns in dispensaries, on roadways near airports and borders, and in airports themselves, is an important step," he said.

Hudak said that even though the “changes in stigma have been dramatic,” and support for policy reform is “highly addictive right now in the United States Congress,” the movement for change on Capitol Hill is “probably not there yet.”

This duopoly presents a problem, said John Hudak, a senior fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. “There are supply issues in the country,” he said, citing “the limited amount of cannabis produced in a given harvest.

For John Hudak, senior fellow at the Brookings Institute and marijuana policy expert, Sessions’ announcement, rescinding a policy that held bipartisan support, was indicative of an “individual letting his own … biases overwhelm public policy.” This view is not in the minority: dozens of Republican members of Congress and Governors have spoken out against the policy.

During a recent interview, John Hudak, a senior fellow of governance at Brookings Institution, explained to Rolling Stone that, in order for anyone to conduct research on Schedule I drugs, they must acquire a license from the DEA that shows they’re certified to work with such substances. (Over 590 researchers registered with the DEA to study Schedule I substances.) “Bringing this process online is, of course, a positive step, but it’s a very small drop in the bucket and there are so many significant barriers for researchers still,” Hudak says. “It’s equivalent of shortening the Daytona 500 by 10 inches.”

“We asked John Hudak at the Brookings Institution to help explain. Mr. Hudak’s research has focused on state and federal marijuana policy. His book, Marijuana, a Short History, was published in October.”

Hudak's "book is a concise and useful overview...and is thus excellent for anyone wanting a brief yet authoritative guide to the topic.”

"Author John Hudak, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, traces the history of America's laws and attitudes toward cannabis in his new book, Marijuana: A Short History."

“‘I think members of his new administration will have significant impact on how he thinks,’ says John Hudak, an expert on the legalization debate with the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.”

“William Brangham speaks with Jonathan Hudak of the Brookings Institution about marijuana law and how it might evolve under President elect Trump’s upcoming administration.”

“John Hudak talked about marijuana legalization ballot measures under consideration in five states on Election Day 2016, as well as conflict between federal and state law in states that have chosen to make cannabis legal.”

John Hudak has "quietly become one of the most influential voices on national cannabis policy.

“‘Right now, the monopoly is bad news,’ Hudak says. ‘[It] creates roadblocks in terms of access, in terms of the speed with which they can get the product, and with the types of strains or potency or compositions of marijuana that [researchers] want to use.’”

“‘There are a whole host of smaller-scale reforms before full-on legalization that the industry would be thrilled,’ to work on, said John Hudak, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who studies federal marijuana policy.”