Lawmakers across the country routinely cast votes on measures concerning the cannabis industry, often without firsthand knowledge of the industry or the benefit of cannabusinesses willing to help educate them.
But Lou Correa took that to the next level.
The former California state senator, who came close to getting a bill passed last year to establish statewide regulations for the MMJ industry, admitted recently that he never once set foot in a dispensary while he was in office between 2006 and 2014.
That’s despite the fact that Correa hails from Santa Ana, a Los Angeles suburb that is practically bursting with dispensaries.
Instead, Correa told San Francisco Weekly that he made his first dispensary visit just this month. And in doing so, he learned a lot.
“I’d never taken a tour before,” Correa told SF Weekly. “The biggest eye-opener were the customers…Baby boomers. Middle class. Anglos. Retired people.”
And though he’s retired, Correa said he is still trying to educate himself on cannabis “as a concerned citizen.”
