Cannabusiness Advisory

Meet Our Keynote Speaker, Kris Krane

September 20, 2017

   

In a few weeks’ time—October 17th, to be exact—we are hosting our first conference on the topic of cannabis, called “The Cannabis Industry: Growth Opportunities for Professionals, Operators and Investors.” After months of planning and behind-the-scenes prep work, we’re thrilled that we’re now only a few short weeks away from what we know will be a fantastic day.

And as we detailed in our last post (ticket and other information here), we’ve put together a program that we think attendees will find informational, interesting, and enlightening. But what we’d like to do in this post is introduce our phenomenal keynote speaker. A person we’re truly lucky to have, and who embodies the spirit of what we hope to achieve with this conference. A person who has the requisite experience and insight to make this a major event on the Massachusetts cannabis calendar, and the ability to relay that experience and those insights in ways that connect with people.

That person is Kris Krane.

The founder and president of 4Front Ventures, which he established in 2011 with the stated purpose of “building a medical cannabis industry based on compassion, integrity, and accountability,” Kris has dedicated his professional life to rewriting the nation’s archaic drug policies. Last year, in Massachusetts, he was instrumental in doing just that, helping to draft the ballot question that put the legalization of marijuana in the hands of Commonwealth voters. He is widely recognized as one of the country’s clearest, most outspoken voices in the fight to change cannabis laws, and has been profiled by Boston magazine and called “the new face of the marijuana trade” by The Boston Globe.

Kris regularly speaks and serves on panels at cannabis conferences and industry events around the country. He also serves as a board member for a number of cannabis-related organizations, including Common Sense for Drug Policy, a nonprofit “dedicated to reforming drug policy and expanding harm reduction”; Marijuana Majority, which provides “resources that make it easy for individual supporters to … [contact] celebrities, elected officials and opinion leaders to encourage them to add their voices to the debate”; the National Cannabis Industry Association, “the only national trade association advancing the interests of the legitimate and responsible cannabis industry”; and Mission Partners USA, “a medical cannabis company dedicated to the health and wellness of its patients … [that provides] professional leadership to the nascent cannabis industry,” and that is owned by 4Front Ventures. Additionally, he sits on the on the board of trustees of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, which bills itself as “the only international network of students dedicated to ending the war on drugs,” and for which he served as executive director from 2006 through 2009.

He’s been quoted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and USA Today; appeared on Fox News Weekend Live and Today in New York; and been featured on National Public Radio, Court TV Radio, and Wisconsin Public Radio. In 2016, he was nominated in the “Most Influential Person” category of the CannAwards.

Kris’s remarkable resume really speaks for itself. And we believe that having him as a headliner speaks to the quality of our event. We can’t wait to hear what he has to say and share, and look forward to talking all things cannabis with you in a month’s time!

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