Edward L. Weidenfeld, Republican lawyer, general counsel to Ronald Reagan, cannabis entrepreneur, medical marijuana supporter and patient died at his home in Washington at age 79 due to complications from Parkinson’s disease, reported the Washington Post. 

Following his time with the Reagans, Weidenfeld became a cannabis entrepreneur and critic of the war on drugs, including Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign. 

Having worked in a variety of capacities for six U.S. presidents and as a successful estate lawyer, Weidenfeld got interested in cannabis following his Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2002. 

Weidenfeld said cannabis relieved his symptoms, especially the anxiety that gripped him over Parkinson’s debilitating physical progression.

“When you’ve got a degenerative disease,” he told the Daily Beast, “and there’s something that makes you laugh and takes your mind off the disease, that’s what is medically beneficial.”

Weidenfeld, while self-medicating with cannabis, by chance met Andras Kirschner who was looking to start a medical marijuana company in the D.C. area. They teamed up and co-founded Phyto Management, a licensed producer in Washington, D.C. After co-founding what became District Cannabis brand, the partners expanded into Maryland.

Kirschner said, per WAPO, that Weidenfeld was active in every aspect of the business, from growing to marketing: “He was like an elder statesman when he walked in the room.”

As he became more involved in cannabis, Weidenfeld also became more outspoken about the injustices of the drug war. 

He told the Cannabis Business Times in 2020 that the “Just Say No” campaign and war on drugs were mistakes, particularly with cannabis. “It demonized a substance which has tremendous therapeutic potential” and “was used as a means of social control over people of color, immigrants.”

Read the full Washington Post obituary of Edward L. Weidenfeld HERE

Photo: District Cannabis website