Long before she was featured in Rolling Stone as one of six women ‘weed warriors’ or appointed to the state of Massachusetts’ Cannabis Control Commission, Shaleen Aghi Title could be found promoting her favorite cause on the UI Quad.
“When I remember campus, I always remember chalking on the Quad and the wide variety of reactions I’d get when I was flyering,” says the three-degree UI grad, who earned her bachelor’s and master’s in accountancy before going to law school here.
“I was passing out quarter-sheet printed flyers in the middle of the Quad for a fundraiser for the costs to hold a medical marijuana awareness event around 2002. I remember saying ‘Happy medical marijuana week!’ to everyone I gave a flyer to, and getting mostly double takes and confusion with the occasional eyeroll or look of disgust, or ‘Are there free brownies?’ with a smirk.
“But maybe one out of 50 times, I’d see a thoughtful look and someone would stop to talk to me about it.
“Many of those people ended up being my best friends and a few of them are national leaders and cannabis business owners now."
Since March 2021, the Indian-Anerican attorney has served as Distinguished Cannabis Policy Practitioner in Residence at Ohio State's Moritz College of Law’s Drug Enforcement and Policy Center.
