Montel is on location at Apex Noire in Boston talking with the CEO and Owner, Tito Jackson. Apex Noire is Boston’s first black owned dispensary, and the nation’s first 7- floor experiential cannabis destination. Tito is s a former Boston City Councilor for district 7 where he was the chairman of the education committee and vice chairman of the government operations committee. He ran for mayor of Boston 2017 advocating for change in the cities wealth gap, housing displacement, and access disparities. Tito has over a decade of experience in sales and marketing rising to the role of industry Director for information technology in the executive office of housing and economic development. He proudly serves on the boards of several organizations in the community, including the Boston Ballet, the city of Boston’s Black Men and Boys commission, the Global Citizens Circle and the University of New Hampshire foundation board.
Montel speaks with cannabis regulatory expert Katie Neer on this episode of Let’s Be Blunt. New York legalized adult use cannabis in March of 2021. Now two years later, the program is plagued with lawsuits and holdups in licenses, inadvertently leading to the proliferation of the illicit market. Katie Neer specializes as a cannabis regulatory attorney and the go-to expert for cannabis industry players who need help navigating the legal minefield in New York and throughout the Northeast. In 2022, she received the City & State "Above & Beyond" Award for her work on cannabis policy and was named to Politico's "Cannabis Power Player" list. She was previously General Counsel and VP of Industry Affairs at Lantern, an e-commerce marketplace that facilitated the home delivery of cannabis in Massachusetts, Colorado, and Michigan. Prior to that she was the Director of Government Affairs for Acreage Holdings and served as Chair of the New York Medical Cannabis Industry Association.
Montel talks with Gary Long on this episode of Let’s be Blunt. Gary transitioned from an extensive career in traditional healthcare to the cannabis industry. He held leadership roles at numerous public companies and brings a wealth of knowledge to his new role as the CEO of Botanical Sciences, Georgia’s first physician owned vertically integrated cannabis company.