Pete Young is a master grower from the old school.
Originally from Long Island, New York, Pete began his journey as a cannabis grower at the age of 15 with a few plants on the rooftop of his friend's apartment to avoid having to buy cannabis from the street.
When he moved to London, Ontario to study photography, he developed his talent for growing weed and provided seeds to Chris Clay's store in London, Ontario at the Great Canadian Hemporium. After Chris was arrested, he and his team changed the store's name to Hemp Nation, where Pete earned the title of Minister of Agriculture.
After Chris Clay’s trial, Pete took over the store and rebranded it as the Organic Traveler with the slogan "There’s no need to panic, it’s organic!"
Pete also founded the London Compassion Society, dedicated to providing high quality cannabis as medicine to people at reduced rates.
On the road to legalization, Pete became a master grower with Indiva, a Licensed Producer in Canada. On Legalization Day (October 17, 2018), Pete and Chris rang the bell opening the stock exchange.
You can pick up a copy of Pete's autobiography, The High Road: A Pot Grower's Journey from the Black Market to the Stock Market on Amazon.
I hope you enjoy my conversation with Pete, one of the original growers who has tremendous respect for the plant.
Thank you to Jeremy Benning, our co-producer and sound editor.
And thank you to Albert Wong, who created and performed our beautiful music.
For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://podcast.cannabislawonearth.com/
If you're looking for a good text book on Canada's federal cannabis law and regulations with helpful related case law, read Canada's Cannabis Act.
And if you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca