Mission:
The Alliance for Sensible Markets is a non-profit coalition of business and advocacy leaders committed to a thriving, just, sustainable, and broadly beneficial legal cannabis industry.
Goals:
Open regulated commerce between consenting states to the benefit of thousands of small businesses, patients, and cannabis lovers, without waiting for fedeal legalization.
Build an opportunity network to help our partner businesses prepare for, access, and thrive in interstate markets.
Support the work of our partner state-based industry associations and advocacy groups.
Board of Directors
Our goal is to right the economics of legal cannabis by legalizing commerce between participating legal markets under interstate agreement in 2021, unleashing a much needed torrent of investment, expansion, business formation, and jobs across both producer and consumer states.
Adam J. Smith,
Founder and President, Alliance for Sensible Markets
Adam is the founder of the Alliance for Sensible Markets. He is also the founder of the Craft Cannabis Alliance, a trade group dedicated to defining and expanding markets for Oregon’s locally owned, values- driven cannabis businesses. In 2019, Adam and his members passed the country’s first law preparing a state (OR) for interstate commerce.
When Congress banned financial aid to students with drug convictions in 1998, Adam organized campuses across the country in the first-ever successful effort to roll back federal drug war legislation in the US. The Higher Education Act reform campaign and Adam’s leadership were instrumental to the launch of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, now a drug policy reform powerhouse and leadership incubator with active chapters in over 40 US states and more than 30 countries.
In 2005 he launched the Vote by Mail project, expanding mail-in ballot access in several states and winning full vote-by-mail elections in Colorado in just four years. As a founding board member of the Oregon Bus Project and the League of Young Voters Education Fund, he helped activate networks of young organizers to get out the vote in communities across the country.
Adam lives in Portland, Oregon, where he recently served on the city’s Cannabis Social Equity Grant selection committee. His writing on drug policy has appeared in dozens of print and online publications, and he can be heard weekly as a regular on the podcast Marijuana Tomorrow.
Dr. Rachel Knox,
President, Cannabis Health Equity Movement
Dr. Rachel Knox, MD, MBA is a certified Cannabinoid Medicine specialist and Clinical Endocannabinologist with a background in Family, Integrative, and Functional Medicine. Along with her family she founded Doctors Knox, Inc., the American Cannabinoid Clinics, and ADVENT Academy. Dr. Knox is a policy and regulatory consultant on cannabis health equity, and her commitment to reform extends into educating communities of color about the role cannabis can play in addressing the Minority Health Disparity Gap, and the broader way cannabis can impact the total wellbeing of these communities through creating health equity. Dr. Knox is Chair of the Oregon Cannabis Commission, member of Portland's Cannabis Policy Oversight Team, Board Member for Doctors for Cannabis Regulation, Board Member of Minority Cannabis Business Association, Advisory Board Member of the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine, Co-founder and President of the Cannabis Health Equity Movement, and Board Member for Nuleaf Project PDX.
William Kelly,
AgriCascadia
Bill Kelly is general partner at AgriCascadia, an investment fund focused on the cannabis industry. The portfolio of AgriCascadia includes Nova Paths, Pure Filtration, Broad Reach Traders, and upLVL. Prior to the cannabis industry, Bill was involved in several successful Internet startups, including WebMD, Learning.com, and ReelDx. He has been an advisor and board member for several companies, including Great Minds and Leavitt Risk Partners. He has also taught entrepreneurial finance, marketing, and strategy for an MBA program in Portland. Bill lives in Portland with his wife (also a cannabis entrepreneur) and cat. He has four adult children. Bill graduated with an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Shanita Penny,
CEO Budding Solutions, Past President Minority Cannabis Business Association
Shanita Penny, MBA is a cannabis advocate and entrepreneur with 20 years of experience helping world class companies and startups solve complex issues and improve business performance in multiple industries. As the founder and principal of Budding Solutions, a boutique cannabis business strategy and policy advisory consulting firm, she has achieved exceptional results while positively impacting the burgeoning cannabis industry and the greater community. Shanita is also cofounder of three state licensed cannabis businesses and cohost of two cannabis business and policy podcasts. Ms. Penny is the immediate past President of the Minority Cannabis Business Association (MCBA) and testified before the U.S. House of Representatives on the regulated cannabis industry's need to access Small Business Administration (“SBA”) services and unlocking the potential of small businesses in the cannabis industry.
Jesse Peters,
CEO Mantis Growth Investments
Jesse Peters is a seasoned cannabis cultivator and entrepreneur and now the founder and CEO of newly formed cannabis investment company Mantis Growth Investments. Previous to Mantis, Mr. Peters was the CEO and co-founder of Eco Firma Farms, an indoor cannabis cultivation facility designed to operate almost entirely on wind power thus proving that environment and business sustainability are simultaneously possible. Jesse remained with Eco Firma Farms through 2018 following its sale to C21 Investments. He is also a founding member of the Oregon Cannabis PAC, the Oregon Cannabis Association, a retired Marine, firefighter, and national speaker and ambassador for the cannabis industry.