April 13, 2017 Comments (0) Views: 2630 April 2017, People, Short Stories, Tip Sheet

A Rush for San Diego Cannabis Tech

Ex-NFLer and medical marijuana proponent Ricky Williams returns to his hometown in support

Ricky Williams had a decorated football career. He was named All-Pro with the Miami Dolphins and played in the Pro Bowl. But his legacy isn’t associated with rushing 10,000 yards: “I’m most known for failing drug tests,” he joked to a crowd of entrepreneurs and investors at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center this spring.

In case you missed it, Williams, Patrick Henry High alum and now marijuana advocate, emceed the graduation of the first class of startups financed by Canopy, a cannabis-focused tech accelerator in Colorado that set up shop in San Diego after Proposition 64 passed. Managed by Jack Scatizzi, who was a postdoctoral fellow at UCSD, Canopy San Diego funds and mentors startups developing technology for dispensary owners, commercial growers, and other ancillary businesses. He says cannabis is “the fastest-growing industry that’s going to touch the largest population, compared to artificial intelligence, genome sequencing, or driverless cars.”