The Inversion of the Cannabis Stereotype On Parents

This article first appeared in the Kids & Cannabis edition of Fat Nugs Magazine, published December 2025 

Growing up in the suburbs of Southern California in the 90s, the only thing I knew about cannabis was drawn from Reefer Madness-era stereotypes that were still alive and well in my community.

Well-meaning community elders in church, school, and sports unanimously agreed that using ‘dope’ was a one-way ticket to destroying your life – and any youths even remotely associated with it were lost causes to be ostracized and made an example of.

What Cannabis Stereotypes? Parents

Between the infamous (subsequently discredited) D.A.R.E. program, zero-tolerance cannabis policies in school that guaranteed expulsion and arrest if anyone was caught with weed, and ‘Above The Influence’ television commercials that comically overstated the dangers of cannabis, the stereotypes around the plant superseded its true nature.

Worst of all, perhaps, was a pothead parent. A parent who used pot was, by definition, a deadbeat and a liability.

Another stereotype surrounding cannabis suggested that people who smoked weed were infertile. I heard this on numerous occasions, and it was even posited as the reason why various people in the community didn’t have kids.

“Joe Diesel can’t have kids – he used to smoke pot in college, and that could be one of the reasons he’s not able to…”

Today, I’m the proud father of an 11-month-old son. I have several profitable and globally recognized businesses that I’ve founded and run. I travel the world with my little family for major conferences and events from Austin and Amsterdam to India and Uganda. I’ve been recognized for my work in major media outlets like Rolling Stone and Forbes. And I’m a stoner.

Benzinga & My Realization on Cannabis Parents

The inversion of the cannabis stereotype that plagued the plant for much of my early life finally hit me earlier this year. I was in Chicago visiting my in-laws with my then 5-month-old son while the Benzinga Capital Cannabis conference was in town. As the founder of the mushroom media platform Mycopreneur and the Co-Founder of Global Psychedelic Week, I’ve built a robust network of connections spanning the emergent psychedelic industry and, by association, also the cannabis industry.

The timing for Benzinga was serendipitous and felt like the ultimate ‘get out of jail free card’ – visit family, eat some deep dish pizza, and when the inevitable overstepping of boundaries and emotional triggers that come with close quarters and in-law relations started to hit, I’d slip out and catch the L train to Magnificent Mile downtown and bop around a high-flying professional cannabis event sampling THC-infused beverages and seshing with friends old and new out front. As much as I love my in-laws, there’s a reason the jokes and stereotypes exist.

After the first day of the conference, comfortably stoned and with a few to-go infused beverages, it hit me that the stereotype around cannabis users I’d grown up being subjected to is completely opposite to my personal experience with the plant and its community over the past 20 years.

I’d just spent the day hobnobbing with insurance analysts, investment bankers, multinational executives, and pop culture icons in the convention center of a $700-a-night hotel in one of Chicago’s primest locations. I’m, by definition, a professional in the cannabis industry who goes to work like any other member of any other ‘respectable’ industry.

The only difference between Benzinga and a trade show for SaaS, the cosmetics industry, or a massive travel agent convention is that at this one, I didn’t need to duck behind the building to smoke. Rather, I was low-key required to light up in broad daylight with the rest of the professionals present. When I got back to the family apartment, I wiggled around on the floor with my son, changed his diaper, put him in pajamas, and tucked him into bed.