Currently serving as one of five commissioners on the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (MA CCC), Attorney and Drug Policy Activist Shaleen Title’s Twitter feed will quickly give you an idea of the power in her voice. She believes all drugs should be legalized and regulated and helped make it a mandatory obligation of the MA CCC to promote and encourage the inclusion of disproportionately harmed communities and in the industry. MJ Lifestyle’s Betsy Kabaker asks the questions we all have while trying not to fangirl too much!

Interview by Betsy Kabaker

WHAT WAS THE SPARK THAT TURNED YOU INTO AN ACTIVIST?

It would have to be when I saw cultural appropriation in Delia’s catalog in the 90s when I was in middle school and they were selling Hindu imagery. Normally I’m okay with Indian culture being used in fashion and people wearing bindis and saris. I think it’s cool that culture is for everybody, but in this case, in this Delia’s catalog it was Hindu religious imagery on toilet paper—something I found really offensive—and I saw it and realized no one is going to change this unless YOU change this. There was no internet, of course. I couldn’t go out and tweet about it, this was the 90s. I wrote a letter and I told them how I felt completely offended by it as a consumer, as a Hindu, and they probably hadn’t thought about how it felt for me. They ended up removing it from the catalog.

WOW. SO YOU ACTUALLY SAW SOME ACTION FROM YOUR REACTION!

Yeah, I got a taste of that power as a citizen, yes.

IN WHAT OTHER AREAS DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY?

Primarily in cannabis and drug policy. That’s my life’s work, but I also try to speak up whenever I see something even if it’s not my area of expertise. If something ignites a feeling in me, I try to speak up. I know when other people tell me something that I can do that’s going to make their life better and will make a difference for them I always try to keep it at the top of my mind. I change my language a lot for example—when people asked me to stop using the term ‘black market’ I stopped it when people asked me to stop using racially charged languages around drug dealers or illicit market dealers in drug policy. I tried to change that language. I listen to people and I hope they listen to me in the same way.

SO WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOU TO BE AN ACTIVIST WITH YOUR OFFICIAL ROLE NOW?

I’m always going to identify first and foremost as an activist. I think that means a person who is trying to make positive change and I’m still doing that—it’s actually very similar—I feel like in my work now I work directly for the people which is not that different from when I was trying to make positive change for the people before as an activist. Sometimes you’ll hear people refer to in a derogatory way to “The Activists” or “The Advocates” as though they’re some kind of fringe group or special interest group, but to me, those are the people who are trying to make society better so, of course, I want to listen to them. Plus, most of the time they’re doing it for free.

WHAT OBSTACLES HAVE YOU FACED WHEN EITHER TRYING TO FIND YOUR VOICE OR FIGURING OUT HOW TO EXPRESS YOUR VOICE TO A BIGGER AUDIENCE?

I think the biggest obstacle I face is people not taking me seriously because no matter what position you hold or no matter what degrees you get or experience that you have there is a certain population that is going to treat women of color, and in particular young women of color, as though they don’t have any expertise and being condescending. I think the biggest challenge is to block out that part and know that my voice has worth and that’s something that I’ve been practicing since long before I had external qualifications. Just my voice in itself has worth and that’s something that I try to pass on to everyone who talks to me. If you care about an issue and you have life experience with that issue, to me your voice is incredibly important and that’s how I treat you.

WHAT WAS THE PRACTICE THAT LED YOU TO BECOME COMFORTABLE WITH EXPRESSING YOUR BELIEFS?

That’s something I think about a lot as a parent because that’s always come naturally to me. I grew up at a time where when I was in college, people would suggest that you take drug policy work off your resume or that you don’t use the words “cannabis” or “marijuana” on your resume for fear of stigma or spooking an employer. Not only did I not follow those rules, but I also did the opposite and did my best to be as outspoken as possible with that work because I’m really proud of it. I brought up parenting because I think that’s how I was raised and that’s how I’m trying to raise my son—to trust and be confident in his own beliefs and what he feels is right.

YOUR SON IS LUCKY HE HAS SOMEONE LIKE YOU TO LOOK UP TO AND TALK TO. DID YOU HAVE STRONG ROLE MODELS GROWING UP?

My mom is definitely a role model for me. And last year we’ve seen Ayanna Pressley and AOC and here in Boston the new DA, Rachael Rollins, she’s both the first woman and the first African American woman to be DA here in this county. They’re all such important role models for me and it changes the way that you look at something when you can see a position being held by someone that looks like you or speaks like you.

WHAT ARE THE POLICIES YOU’RE PRIORITIZING RIGHT NOW AT THE STATE AND FEDERAL LEVEL?

At the state level, we’re in a position in Massachusetts where we have been ahead of the equity discussion which is now at the forefront of the legalization movement: How do we do social justice right? How do we make sure that we’re repairing the harms of the drug war? We started asking that question back in 2015 and we made it a mandatory obligation of this agency, the Cannabis Control Commission, to promote and encourage the inclusion of disproportionately harmed communities and in the industry, but we didn’t specify how. So here in Massachusetts, we are trying different ways, we’ve tried priority in terms of applications—that was not enough. We’re trying a huge technical assistance program and we’re trying exclusive access to certain types of licenses for people from those communities—a new groundbreaking way of trying to provide equity. At the federal level, it’s the same thing. The federal legalization that eventually passes should be best practices learned from all of these states and equity should be at the top of that.

WE HAVEN’T SEEN THAT IN CALIFORNIA YET.

And we learn from California as well, especially Oakland, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Francisco, all these cities are trying things, but I think the top priority is to make sure that we’re really honest about what we’re trying and about what the data is showing because so many other states are going to be doing this after us and also having equity as a top priority and I want them to do even better and learn from us.

ALL THESE CITIES AND STATES LEGALIZING IN THE US ARE INCUBATORS WORKING TO DEVELOP A REGULATIONS SYSTEM, WHICH WILL EXPAND ALL OVER THE WORLD. IN THE U.S. WE ARE AHEAD OF THE GAME, SO I’M HOPING THAT EQUITY AND THESE IDEALS LIKE COMPASSION AND MEDICAL ACCESS ARE REALLY GOING TO BE SPREAD.

And California really led centering patients and compassion and safe access in a way that all of the other states followed. I think a lot of our patient-centered policies—like we were the first to make sure we had a supply safety net for patients if a dispensary is to be both medical and adult-use, they have to set aside a little more than a third of their supply for patients—and that’s something we learned by watching California. When you have a value it’s really important in how you make policies. You start with the value and in this case, it’s compassion and safe access, and then you make the policy from there.

HOW DOES THAT TRANSLATE AT A FEDERAL LEVEL?

Cannabis is illegal federally, so until that changes…

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT EAST COAST VERSUS WEST COAST CANNABIS CULTURALLY? I KNOW THAT MASSACHUSETTS HAS THIS CONSUMPTION LOUNGE IDEA AND THAT’S REALLY HOW YOU BRING CANNABIS CULTURE TO A BROADER AUDIENCE. HOW DO YOU SEE BOSTON’S PLACE IN CANNABIS CULTURE VERSUS SAN FRANCISCO’S?

The East Coast cannabis culture and the Massachusetts cannabis culture already exist. It has been here for dozens of years and I think it’s a matter of time before our laws and our regulations adjust to being in parity with the culture. I just try to think long-term and understand that each incremental step that we take is going in the right direction. For example, I suspect that our social consumption program when it starts will be small, will be incremental, will certainly not treat cannabis the way that we treat alcohol, but I also understand that it just takes time and in the meantime, the cannabis culture is still there. It never went anywhere. It’s going to be here no matter what the laws and regulations say, so it’s just a matter of making the match while also keeping public health, public safety and equity in mind.

MOVING FORWARD, WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU? WHAT OTHER ISSUES HAVE YOUR ATTENTION OR IS CANNABIS WHERE YOU FOCUS MOST OF YOUR CAUSE RELATED ACTIVISM?

My plate is completely full until my term ends in 2020. After that, I don’t know. I do find the push to decriminalize psychedelics very interesting. I think there are a lot of complex regulatory questions there that are completely different from cannabis that I find fascinating. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next.

Hear from Shaleen in real-time on her personal twitter @shaleentitle

Read the full article online in MJ Lifestyle’s [sold out] third issue! 

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