Russian-American Curaleaf Founder Boris Jordan Discusses Putin on Podcast

October 18, 2022 · CelebStoner

Curaleaf founder Boris Jordan was born in New York to Russian parents. He’s a former supporter of Russian president Vladimir Putin. In a revealing interview on Ethan Nadelmann’s Psychoactive podcast, Jordan says Putin will never legalize cannabis.

“It’s going to be difficult for two reasons,” Jordan explains. “Under Putin I don’t see it happening because he is anti-alcohol and anti any drugs. The man is a health freak. He is never going to allow it.”

Jordan points to a Russian cannabis study Putin backed three years ago. “Although I don’t know where this study is now, he did allow one Russian government-owned organization to build a greenhouse and to plant cannabis as well as the opium plant to do medical research as to whether or not it actually works,” Jordan says. “He had enough pressure on him with everything that’s going on in the United State and Europe that he allowed for that to happen. He said, ‘If you guys can bring me medical evidence that these things actually cure or at least assist in medical conditions and this would be a cheaper variant to synthetic drugs, I will give it serious consideration.’

RELATED: Putin Calls Ukraines ‘Drug Addicts’

“But recreational [marijuana]? Never under Putin’s watch. He is adamantly against it. He apparently cracked a joke once and asked some Russian who knew me if Jordan is still selling weed to the Americans? That person said yes and Putin said thank God.”

Jordan continues about the Russian warmonger: “His view of cannabis is very negative, at least for his own population. However, when that old guard steps away from power, I can tell you the younger generation right underneath him is much more open-minded on these things. If I was a betting man – I’m in cannabis, so I guess I am – I would argue that Russia could move very quickly under a new regime.

“However, there are massive stigmas in Russia, very similar to the ones in the United States… I see a tremendous amount of similarities between the Russians and Americans – the way they think, the way they behave, a lot of things are very, very similar. The young generation of Russians are very progressive. I think that generation, assuming it doesn’t run off because of this war, would move on cannabis very quickly.”

Nadelmann challenges Jordan about “putting out a lukewarm statement hoping there could be peaceful resolution” when Russia invaded Ukraine in February and for “failing to condemn Putin.” The host suggests Jordan’s low-key tweet (above) may be due to Putin’s proclivity to kill his opponents, and that Jordan chose “to take the shit from the community than rather be bolder,” referring to cannabis industy criticism. “Is that basically what happened?”

Jordan ducks the question with this answer: “I’m an old-line student of business. Maybe I need to change but everything I know about business is that business and politics is separate. I do not get involved in poliitics while I’m running businesses… I try to stay out of the politics because I don’t think there’s an up side to business getting involved in politics.” 

Founded in 2010, Curaleaf, based in Massachusetts, currently operates in 23 states. It’s considered “the world’s largest cannabis company by revenue.” CURLF is currently trading at $5.63 per share on the OTC market. Their market cap is $4.25B. Full Story

In category:Politics
Next Post

Cory Booker Pushes For Psychedelics Reform To Unlock Therapeutic Access

As Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) works to enact marijuana reform before the end of Congress, he’s also pushing to promote access to psychedelics that he says hold therapeutic potential. In a video posted to Twitter on Monday, the senator talked…
Read
Previous Post

U.S. Senate Candidate Tim Ryan Visits Marijuana Cultivation Facility in Ohio

Rep. Tim Ryan would be a great addition to the U.S. Senate. The Democratic Ohio Congress person has voted to pass The MORE Act several times and on October 3 he visited a medical-cannabis cultivation facility in Youngstown. Ryan favors adult-use legalization…
Read
Random Post

Washington Bill Would Create New Social Equity Cannabis Licenses

A bill proposed in Washington state would add about 100 retail adult-use cannabis dispensary licenses which would be set aside for social equity applicants, KING 5 reports. The measure is backed by the state Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) which recently reported that…
Read
Random Post

Australia Sees Huge Rise In People Accessing Legal Medical Cannabis

The 2018 CAMS survey found 2.5 percent of respondents had accessed a legal prescription. In 2022, it's 37% – but price remains an issue. A new survey has shown a dramatic increase in the percentage of Australians accessing prescription cannabis…
Read
Random Post

“Miracle” Psychedelic Drug Could Save Lives and Mint Millions

Back in the 1950s, Humphry Osmond led a group of pioneering psychiatrists in an extensive study of psychedelics. And from that research, they found that these hallucinogenic drugs had immense therapeutic potential. With academic research coming to an indisputable conclusion…
Read
Random Post

Oklahoma Announces Special Election For Marijuana Legalization Initiative In March 2023

The governor of Oklahoma has officially called for a special election in March 2023 for voters to decide on marijuana legalization. Activists had pushed to place the cannabis reform measure on next month’s ballot, but it faced obstacles in the…
Read