About Don Duncan
Don Duncan has served on the Board of Directors since he co-founded American for Safe Access (ASA) in 2002. As California Director, he is coordinating the grassroots and “grasstops” campaign to fully implement the state’s medical cannabis laws, respond to federal interference, and build a broader and more powerful coalition for medical cannabis in California.
Mr. Duncan’s work is instrumental in galvanizing grassroots resistance to federal interference and intimidation, and he plays a key role in seeding local self-regulatory alliances for medical cannabis providers statewide. He works closely with elected officials, law enforcement, collective operators, and community members in local implementation efforts in California cities and counties – including work with the Los Angeles City Council and city staff to write permanent regulations for medical cannabis collectives in that city.
Mr. Duncan led the campaign to adopt legislation to protect patients’ employment rights in California in 2008, work that continues todat with California Senator Mark Leno’s (D-SF) SB 129. He also worked with the California Board of Equalization on issues related to sales tax and medical cannabis since 2005, helped craft ASA’s input into the California Attorney General’s guidelines for medical cannabis in 2008, and coordinated ASA’s statewide symposia on medical cannabis collective operation in 2006 and 2007. He is currently working to coordinate strategic support for ASA’s Federal Policy Agenda in California – helping to facilitate recent progress in Congress and the Obama Administration.
Mr. Duncan co-founded one of the oldest and most reputable families of medical cannabis dispensing collectives in California, helping to open legal facilities in Berkeley, Los Angeles, West Hollywood, and Palm Springs. He is a leading consultant in the field of medical cannabis. Mr. Duncan helps new collective operators understand the legal nature of their organizations, lay out strategies for compliance, and overcome common pitfalls – including permitting, public relations, government relations, personnel issues, landlord negotiations, and promotions. His clients include some of the largest medical cannabis collectives in California, as well as numerous smaller patient associations.
60 Minutes called Mr. Duncan “an elder statesman in the world of medical marijuana,” and he has been featured in major media coverage, including 60 Minutes, Dan Rather Reports, Retirement Living TV, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and others.
Contact Don Duncan at dondduncan@yahoo.com or by calling (323) 326-6347.
