When he formally announced Diego Pellicer last December, Jamen Shivley said he wanted his marijuana business to be a “first-mover.”
Now he’s starting to make that happen. The former Microsoft corporate manager held a press conference today in downtown Seattle that included former Mexico president Vicente Fox.
Shively announced that his company has acquired the rights to Northwest Patient Resource Center, a medical marijuana clinic. Diego Pellicer is also close to buying a chain of medical marijuana stores across Washington, California and Colorado, Shively announced today.
Fox was on hand to show his friendly support for Diego Pellicer, speaking about the negative effects of the war on drugs in Mexico. He’s not involved with the company.
Shively’s mission is to help Diego Pellicer become the nation’s first legal marijuana big business — think Budweiser, but for bud.
“This is all about getting people out of jail,” he explained in December. “800,000 people per year are arrested in the U.S. for possession and 80,000 are behind bars for having possessed a plant that is totally natural, non-addictive and completely harmless.”
He told Reuters that he’s looking for $10 million in startup money and eventually wants to create separate medical and recreational pot brands.
Only two states — Washington and Colorado — have legalized marijuana use, and just 18 allow for medical marijuana. But federal law still deems cannabis use illegal. We’ve reached out to Diego Pellicer to learn more details, including the potential legal ramifications of the company’s future plans.
