One of the co-owners of Cannabend, Lizette Coppinger, also happens to be the Vice-Chair of the Bend Chapter of Women Grow – an organization whose mission is to connect, educate and empower women who are leaders in the cannabis industry. Monthly meetings are held to network and share ideas and challenges that are faced with this business of medicinal and recreational marijuana sales and service.
The next meeting of Women Grow is scheduled for Thursday, November 5th at 6:00pm at Tin Pan Theater in Bend. One main focus of this next meeting will be to hear from a local woman whose goal is the legalization of all drugs, and who has spent many years working in courtrooms and foreign countries to change US drug policy. Here is a short biography for this guest speaker:
Inge Fryklund, JD, PhD first observed the futility and injustice of the war on drugs as a Cook County (Chicago) prosecutor back in the 1980’s. “During my work in the bond courts in Chicago, I saw a steady parade of defendants arrested for minor drug offenses. Looking at the criminal history records, it sometimes appeared that every inner city male (primarily Black, to a lesser extent Latino, rarely White) had a drug conviction, making him ineligible for future legitimate employment, and likely driving him back into the drug economy. Gangs fighting over drug turf drove much of the gang-related violent crime I observed. It was like Al Capone’s Chicago.” She also served as Supervisor of the Criminal Appeals Division, was responsible for all criminal appeals out of Cook County, and successfully argued a jury selection case in the U.S. Supreme Court.
More recently, between 2004 and 2014, she has spent five years in Afghanistan, working with the Afghan legal system and advising national, provincial, and municipal governments there as well as the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. Throughout her time in Afghanistan, she has observed the damaging effects of U.S. drug policy on individual Afghans, on Afghan legal and governance institutions, and on the effectiveness of American attempts to counter terrorism.
Inge’s goal is the legalization of all drugs—in order to take drugs out of the hands of cartels and criminal gangs, eliminate adulterated products, support public health, and allow regulation. She divides her time between opposing the War on Drugs, and trying to influence opinion on U.S. Afghan and Middle East policies.
Inge lives in Bend and has three adult children and one grandchild.
Tickets are $25 and are available for purchase on-line and at the door if space is available. Join us at a local bar after each meeting to network and get to know each other, and contact Cannabend at 541-617-0420 for details and additional information regarding meetings and sponsorships.