Freedom Fighters: Expungement, Activism & Legalization

Thunder Walker

Ms. Thunder Walker is a distinguished entrepreneur and advocate in the cannabis industry, renowned for her dynamic involvement across various platforms that educate and promote cannabis and psychedelic understanding. She won Jack Herer Influencer Of The Year. She is the CEO of The Thunder Walker Experience and Proud Mary Cannabis, where she combines her expertise in Green Zone real estate, cannabis, pediatrics, and entrepreneurship to uplift the cannabis community. Thunder Walker is also the Oklahoma State Director for Minorities for Medical Marijuana (M4MM), emphasizing her commitment to diversity and inclusion within the industry.

Her visionary initiative, The Smoke Currency Tour, is an immersive experience that educates participants about the cannabis industry, fostering connections and dispelling myths through a series of nationwide events. This tour is part of her broader efforts under The Thunder Walker Experience, which is a comprehensive movement dedicated to enhancing public understanding of cannabis through educational opportunities, spirituality, and well-being.

Michael Hoffman

Mr. Hoffman is a true solo attorney that has become a leader in delivering expungement clinic services in New Jersey.  He is also active in working with the New Jersey Cannabis Law Committee in making recommendations to the Cannabis Regulatory Commission.  Mr. Hoffman organizes and leads groups of attorneys and experts in various fields related to cannabis who meet regularly to review/interpret and analyze ongoing and upcoming regulations and court decisions.  He is a face that is widely recognized at cannabis industry events and is known for his passion to help those who are interested in being part of the industry, those who have been impacted by the criminalization of cannabis and his desire to help shape New Jersey’s cannabis regulations. Most recently, Mr. Hoffman, was awarded the 2023 New Jersey Cannabis Insider Award for Excellence in Social Equity.  He serves as an adjunct professor of cannabis law and policy for undergraduates and graduate courses at Rowan University.

Gaetano “Guy” Lardieri

Since 1978, Mr. Lardieri has worked in various capacities at several New Jersey-based medical centers and hospitals. He spent 26 years of his career in cancer research in hospitals, teaching medical centers, and pharmaceutical settings.

During this time, he held several roles. As a Research Assistant on one study, he interviewed, collected genetic information, and gathered data on over 3,500 patients and family members. As a Site Coordinator for a major cancer center in New Jersey, he worked with a team of oncology specialists to identify and randomize several thousand patients for cancer clinical trials. He co-authors several papers on GI genetic diseases resulting from this work.

In 1997, Mr. Lardieri began his career in the pharmaceutical industry. He has held permanent and consulting positions with several top pharmaceutical companies and CROs in New Jersey and New York.

He earned Project Management and Lean Six Sigma certifications during his pharmaceutical career.

Mr. Lardieri was a project manager for a team that received FDA approval for a breast cancer drug.

In 2013, Mr. Lardieri transitioned his clinical experience and pharmaceutical skills to the cannabis and psychedelics industries.

He has advised many startups in the cannabis/psychedelics space. He is a co-founder of two companies focused on medical cannabis, psychedelics, advocacy, education, mentorship, nano-research, clinical trials, and aerospace science.

He is the co-founder of THCBD LLC, which holds a current conditional license for cannabis production and manufacturing in New Jersey.

He is also the co-founder of Future Entheogenic Medicines LLC (F.E.M.), which consults on psychedelic wellness, research and development, harm reduction, and education.

Mr. Lardieri is the New Jersey co-state Director for Minorities for Medical Marijuana (M4MM).

He advises several prestigious boards, including the Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey (CMMNJ), CannaCoverage, JUSTUS Foundation, UPENN Affiliate Scholars Board, and HillView Med.

Mr. Lardieri has had many articles published over the years discussing cannabis/psychedelics research and advocacy.

He has presented original research in the aerospace science field at NASA’s Langley Research Center and the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR).

Mr. Lardieri has been named three times to the New Jersey Insider 100 Cannabis Power List, is a 2021 Black Wall Street People’s Choice Award recipient, and was cited on the 2019 New Jersey LGBT Power List.

Two recent major projects he was involved with include: 1) being an integral part of a global team of researchers who, in a historic first, launched a CBD nano-emulsion to the ISS (International Space Station) for research, and 2) serving as one of the Principal Investigators who conducted a historical survey on psychedelics, which included over 1,200 participants.

Mr. Lardieri was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey.

For more information, view Mr. Lardieri’s LinkedIn profile HERE!

Jason Kabbes

Jason Kabbes (Co-Founder of Bridge City Collective) got an early start in cannabis advocacy in 1998 when he served as President of the cannabis and hemp advocacy group For A Better Ohio (a group seeking to legalize medical marijuana and industrial hemp in Ohio via citizen voter initiative). After later receiving degrees in Geology and Mineral Physics (B.S. ’06, M.S. ”10), Jason moved to Oregon to reconnect with old friends and to solidify his first license to cultivate in the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program, where he perfected his organic indoor and outdoor craft style. In 2017, Jason began a partnership with David Alport (Founder of Bridge City Collective), and the two went on to co-found Ohio Clean Leaf, Diamond Science, and Garden State Canna Collective/GSCC (https://www.csglaw.com/newsroom/nj-cannabis-media-garden-state-canna-collective-motivated-to-help-patients-economy/ ). Since entering the New Jersey cannabis space in 2018, Jason and GSCC have built a tight-knit NJ community within Bridge City Collective that is poised to launch cultivation and retail operations sales in 2024 under the brands Bridge City Collective (https://bridgecitycollective.com/) and Panda Farms (https://pandafarms.co/).