Think & Drink: The Future of Cannabis
Moderated by Walter Thompson, Hoodline with Amanda Conley, Brand and Branch LLP; former Oakland Mayor Jean Quan; Nina Parks, Mirage Medicinal; and Andrea Unsworth, StashTwist

Almost half of all adults have tried marijuana, and 13 percent admit smoking it regularly. Last year, Californians voted to legalize recreational marijuana, but nearly 1 in 5 residents already use the plant medicinally.

To prepare for full legalization, state and local stakeholders are crafting new laws and guidelines for everything from marijuana cultivation to marketing practices.

How will communities and individuals manage the economic and social impacts of the new Green Rush? We'll talk to cannabis activists and entrepreneurs to get their take on some of the issues facing the nascent industry.

Amanda Conley is a partner at Brand & Branch LLP and Founding Treasurer of the National Cannabis Bar Association. Amanda has a diversified practice focused on intellectual property and legal issues in emerging technologies and in the cannabis industry, including trademark and copyright counseling, enforcement, and litigation; advising on privacy and data security practices; recovering domain names through Uniform Dispute Resolution Proceedings; and representing clients in district court litigation and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

Amanda has represented a variety of companies including large computer software and hardware companies, cannabis-infused edibles producers, start-ups focusing on technology, cannabis, home design, education, and gaming, and a major grocery store chain. Amanda speaks on privacy and intellectual property issues and at cannabis industry conferences.

Before attending law school, Amanda worked as a statistician for the Institute of Behavioral Sciences in Boulder, Colorado. Amanda also co-founded the Bay Area chapter of Women Grow. Amanda can be reached at [email protected].

Jean Quan served as Oakland's first woman and first Asian American Mayor (2011-2014) and is a 35-year resident of Oakland. She previously served neighborhoods and families for 8 years on the City Council & 12 years on the School Board. She has been a lifelong fighter for civil rights, economic & environmental justice, education & youth, and neighborhood advocacy. Currently, Quan and husband Floyd Huen, a physician, are partnering with Apothecarium to open a medical marijuana dispensary in the Outer Sunset, San Francisco.

Walter Thompson (Moderator) is a journalist who's worked in tech startups for two decades. He's the Community Editor for Hoodline, a hyperlocal news service, his work has appeared in San Francisco Magazine, and he's working on Golden City, a documentary about how technology has transformed housing and transportation in San Francisco.

Andrea Unsworth is the Founder of StashTwist, a delivery-only dispensary in the Bay Area. She is also a co-founder of Supernova Women, an organization of that educates and promotes the advancement of individuals and businesses owned by people of color in the cannabis industry.

Andrea is currently a Financial Analyst at Green Rush Consulting helping investors navigate the fast-moving and highly complex cannabis industry, and fostering the development of entrepreneurs building businesses. She builds financial models, prepares state license applications, and is an integral part of the Green Rush team – a vanguard cannabis consulting firm based in Oakland.

As a patient advocate, Andrea spends much of her time working at the local level to build relationships with policy makers in Oakland and neighboring cities. She collaborates with local organizations to build awareness and support entrepreneurs within the cannabis community.

A former financial analyst for Moody’s, Andrea has written and published numerous pieces on the cannabis industry both locally and in other states. She has a B.A. from UCLA and an MBA from the University of Southern California (USC). A California native, she has lived throughout the state and has been a Bay Area resident for 8 years.

Nina Parks is first and foremost an artist, then a Social Entrepreneur. Born and raised in San Francisco and the California coast. Nina was born with an innate fascination with the concept of "justice," and a passion to defend the right for a person to grow and express themselves. Her early adulthood lead her to become a case manager and community organizer, strongly believing in the ability to use our collective imagination and logic to build a better tomorrow. She now owns Mirage Medicinal, her family's holistic cannabis lifestyle brand. Currently, Mirage Medicinal is a delivery service in San Francisco that focuses on providing a curated selection of high quality cannabis products and litivities that encourage creativity, wellness and self-care. She acquired the paperwork for Mirage Medicinal from her brother in 2015 when her brother was sentenced to a year at Rikers Island for a cannabis offense. Finding that there was a lack of support for people with her family's narrative she joined forces with Amber Senter, Sunshine Lencho, Andrea Unsworth, to found Supernova Women, the group, aims to educate and empower, women of color around the nation in becoming self sustaining stakeholders in the cannabis industry. Nina also chairs a committee for the California Growers Association and is the Bay Area lead for the California Cannabis Couriers Association. Her purpose is to aid in healing our communities affected by the 'War on Drugs' by building her brand and advocating for equitable local, state and national policy.

In her free time she likes to get crafty, smoke weed, partake in cannabis infused hydro therapy, study astrology, tarot, yoga and holistic wellness. www.miragemedicinal.com | www.supernovawomen.com