Wednesday, May 22nd, 2019

12:30 - 2:00 PM, Herscher Hall, Guerin B, Live Webcast

Luncheon Co-Host

Michael Miller, LA Weekly Cannabis Editor, “CannaBusiness” podcast, Ygeia Capital Partners, principal

The Cannabis - Wellness Luncheon

Marvin Washington, NFL Star vs. DEA - A Lawsuit and a Movement Demanding Change

Jim Belushi, Actor and Cannabis Activist

Marvin Washington is an advocate for the medical use of cannabis, as well as an entrepreneur in the cannabis industry. In 2017 he was part of a lawsuit filed against Attorney General Jeff Sessions, seeking to overturn the classification of cannabis as a Schedule I drug. Washington is a board member of Athletes for Care, a group that advocates for athletes on various issues of health and safety including the use of cannabis as medicine. Marv is also a Super Bowl Champion and Superstar NFL Player for more than a decade. He was selected in the sixth round of the 1989 NFL Draft by the New York Jets, the 151st overall pick, and played a total of eight seasons for the Jets, the last six as a starter. Marv  recorded a career-high (and team-high) 8.5 sacks in 1992,and a career-high 71 tackles the following year. After his time with the Jets, Marv played a season for the San Francisco 49ers, a season for the Denver Broncos (with whom he won a

Super Bowl ring), and returned to the 49ers for his final year in 1999. He finished his career with 40.5 sacks, 386 tackles, and 10 forced fumbles in 155 games played, 96 of which he started.

Jim Belushi, Actor and Cannabis Activist: Jim Belushi is not only an actor of worldwide renown, he is also a Cannabis activist and Cannabis grower known to have harvested some of the most sophiticasted cultivars known to humankind. Of course, Belushi is best known for his illustrious film career. Jim’s first film was also Michael Mann’s first film. “Thief” was a dramatic film in which he played James Caan’s partner in crime. The he flip-flopped to a comedic role in “Trading Places.” But it was his work in Edward Zwick’s “About Last Night” with Rob Lowe and Demi Moore that brought Belushi his first serious attention as a film star. In the 1986 feature, he reprised the role that he had played on stage in David Mamet’s Obie Award-winning “Sexual Perversity in Chicago,” from which the film was adapted. His feature credits since then show an extraordinary range: He was James Woods’ spacey DJ buddy, Dr. Rock, in Oliver Stone’s “Salvador;” the mentally handicapped dishwasher befriended by Whoopi Goldberg in the Andrei Konchalovsky film, “Homer and Eddie;” and the defiant high school principal standing up to drug dealers in “The Principal.” In 2010, Belushi traveled to Berlin to shoot the part of a hard-talking publisher in Roman Polanski’s “The Ghost.” Other dramatic and comic film roles include the “K-9” franchise for Universal Studios with the beloved Jerry Lee, “Joe Somebody,” “Red Heat” with Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Hughes’ “Curly Sue,” “Taking Care of Business,” “Once Upon a Crime,” “Return to Me,” “Mr. Destiny,” “Only the Lonely,” “The Man with One Red Shoe,” “Real Men,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Jingle All the Way,” “Retroactive,” “Underdog,” and one of Jim’s favorites, “Gang Related” with Tupac Shakur. You will also see him in the upcoming independent features “The Secret Lives of Dorks,” “Undrafted,” and “North of Hell” with Patrick Wilson and Katherine Heigl. Additionally, he voiced the Squirrel in the animated feature “The Wild” and the Woodsman in the animated feature “Hoodwinked.” He has leant his voice to hundreds of animated television shows including “The Mighty Ducks,” “The Tick,” “Pinky and the Brain,” “Hey Arnold,” “Rugrats,” “AAAHH! Real Monsters,” “Scooby Doo,” and “Superman.” Belushi has also stayed close to his stage background, both on and off- Broadway. In 2011, he made his way to the Great White Way and earned rave reviews as the star of Garson Kanin’s “Born Yesterday.” This revival was directed by Tony Award-winning director Doug Hughes. His previous stage appearances include on Broadway in Herb Gardner’s acclaimed “Conversations with My Father” at the Royal Theatre and for Joseph Papp as the Pirate King in “Pirates of Penzance.” He starred off-Broadway in Sam Shephard’s “True West” at the Cherry Lane Theatre, in the Williamstown Theatre Festival production of John Guare’s “Moon Over Miami,” and in Richard Nelson’s “Baal” at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Besides acting, Jim is also a musician. Jim and Dan Aykroyd, together as The Blues Brothers, opened for The Rolling Stones at Soldier Field in Chicago in 2005 and performed at the SARS benefit in Toronto for over 400,000 people, in which the Rolling Stones also performed. Jim also headlines his own group, The Sacred Hearts, which is the official house band for the House of Blues chain of venues. They are a rhythm and blues band that performs 40 nights a year at clubs, casinos and corporate events all over the country. For over 18 years, with harmonica in hand, Belushi and the bands have entertained President Clinton, Vice President Gore, Senators and other politicians. Belushi and Aykroyd recorded an album entitled “Have Love, Will Travel” that was number one on the blues chart. Additionally, Belushi recorded and released three other albums: “Blues Brothers Live from Chicago,” The Sacred Hearts’ “36 x 22 x 36,” and the soundtrack to “According to Jim.”

Michael Miller, LA Weekly Cannabis Editor, “CannaBusiness” podcast, Ygeia Capital Partners, principal: Michael Miller is a philanthropist, entrepreneur, and business advisor.  He began his over thirty five year career in 1987, the heyday of hostile acquisitions as a Wall Street lawyer practicing in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, labor, and intellectual property at Willkie Farr & Gallagher in New York and Skadden Arps in Los Angeles. During such time, Michael had the privilege to work with some of the world’s top deal makers including Carl Icahn,  Robert Campeau, Paul Bilzerian and  Mike Milken.  Michael presently oversees venture investments for a number of high net worth families and is a co-founder of what will be the world’s largest  private investment fund  focused primarily on all aspects of the nascent domestic and international cannabis industry.  Michael recently launched Table 21, a cannabis dining salon bringing together investors, lawmakers, CEO’s, and medical researchers, and The Beach Cities Cannabis Conference in Los Angeles. Michael advised on the launch of the first 24/7 cannabis lifestyle radio station, “Purple Haze” on the Dash Radio Network (the new XM radio providing free, commercial free digital radio with over 30 million subscribers), and is the creator, producer and host of  “CannaBusiness”- the first international weekly talk show focused on the economics, legal, medical and regulatory issues facing the nascent legal cannabis industry.