Roger Stone pulled as cannabis conference’s keynote speaker

Roger Stone’s appearance as a keynote speaker at an upcoming marijuana conference has been canceled, Marijuana Business Daily has confirmed.

Citing a commitment to “inclusion” and “growth” of the marijuana industry, the Cannabis World Congress and Business Exposition (CWCBExpo) announced Wednesday that Stone – a longtime adviser to Donald Trump who has been accused of making racist statements – will no longer be a featured speaker at its conferences in Los Angeles on Sept. 13-15 or in Boston on Oct. 4-6.

According to a news release from CWCBExpo, the conference’s “forums … are crucial to the growth and legalization of the cannabis industry and they supersede the distractions that have surrounded the events.”

Those distractions apparently include a boycott of CWCBExpo by numerous speakers and exhibitors over what they described as racist and misogynist rhetoric by Stone. Critics pointed to Stone’s remarks about another speaker scheduled for the conference, Rev. Al Sharpton, as a prime example of what they didn’t condone.

When Stone’s appearance at the L.A. conference came to light, the Minority Cannabis Business Association was one of the loudest voices against his inclusion and its members withdrew from the conference.