Several NJ cannabis leaders and local celebrities were honored by Minorities for Medical Marijuana (M4MM) on their top 100 influencers list during Black History Month.

According to High Times Magazine, the names were not ordered to say who is more influential than someone else on the list. We used their order.

Entrepreneur, Advocate, and NBA Star Al Harrington

NBA Star Al Harrington has become a leading cannabis advocate and entrepreneur. He is from Roselle in North Jersey and established his Viola brand of cannabis products and his Village dispensary in Hoboken.

Harrington made a deal with a larger MSO to get Viola cannabis products in the market prior to the Village dispensary opening.

To his credit, he was part of the cannabis legalization movement here in Jersey. He helped with a webinar with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which led the NJ cannabis legalization campaign.

Advocate and Businessman Nadir Pearson

Nadir Pearson started as a student activist with the Student Marijuana Alliance for Research & Transparency Students (SMART) early in the NJ cannabis legalization movement. He testified before the NJ Legislature in favor of legalization.

Pearson has since gone into the legal cannabis industry with the company behind the Hybrid social media app.

NJ Cannabis Training Academy Director Tauhid Chappell

Tauhid Chappell of South Jersey was put in charge of developing the NJ Cannabis Training Academy (CTA) to help train entrepreneurs and professionals on the nuances of the industry.

They celebrated their first anniversary last fall and noted great progress has been made to educate business owners and their workers on a wide range of subjects related to the opening and operating of a legal NJ cannabis business.

There are very few programs like this across the state-legal cannabis markets.

Leading Advocate Leo Bridgewater

Leo Bridgewater of Trenton has been a leading advocate and businessman in NJ cannabis since the Christie Administration.

As an American military veteran, he successfully fought to include Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a condition allowing someone to become a medical cannabis patient. Bridgewater has been a passionate advocate as an M4MM leader.

He has been active in the market in other states.

Leading Cannabis Attorney Scheril Murray Powell

Scheril Murray Powell is a noted attorney involved in the federal cannabis legalization movement.

She has also spoken on many conference panels as a leading figure.

After President Joe Biden (D) endorsed moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, a trial was eventually set up. Powell was on the pro-federal cannabis legalization side.

It was supposed to go on for a while. However, President Donald Trump (R) canceled the process and then restarted it.

(Descheduling cannabis is how we actually need to make it legal.)

Simply Pure of Trenton Dispensary CEO Tahir Johnson

Tahir Johnson is the CEO of Simply Pure of Trenton dispensary in Ewing, Mercer County. It is a franchise of another list maker, cannabis advocate, and entrepreneur, Wanda James.

He received a shoutout at the 2025 NJ State of the Sate by former Governor Phil Murphy as an example of a successful social equity businessman.

Prior to opening Simply Pure, Johnson worked in finance and federal cannabis legalization politics in Washington, DC.

While opening a dispensary is difficult, he has persevered while other owners have had to close their doors permanently.

Businessman and Edutor Jay Jackson

Businessman and educator Jay Jackson has sought to be a social equity pioneer as an entrprenuer and a trail blazer. He has been a top CTA teacher instructing people on the nuances of the industry .

Under Yerr Canna JJ has sought to open a cannabis growing company. He was at the center of the State’s effort to try to help some companies access some capital via grants.

(Unforutnately Heady NJ believes a Pennsylvania based company got a State grant too and has since closed.)

Advocate and Businesswoman Nichelle Santos

Nichelle Santos is a leading advocate as a leader of the NJ chapter of (M4MM).

She is also the CEO of CannaCoverage, which seeks to help medical cannabis patients pay for the cost of their medicine as a benefit of a healthcare plan.

(Nichelle is going to be on our NJ Women in Cannabis show and party on Saturday, March 14^th!)

NJ Native Rapper Redman

The celebrity rapper and actor Redman is from North Jersey. He is a leader of a third political party devoted to federal cannabis legalization. It has been renamed to the United Empowerment Party since having “cannabis” in the name caused a lot of problems with narc cop lovers.

Notably, Redman has also attended Cannademix cannabis conferences in North Jersey.

Advocate and Businessman Brendan Robinson

Brendan Robinson is the President of the NJ Cannabis Chamber of Commerce. Prior to that, he co-launched the Mudd Brothers brand of cannabis concentrates. They recently made a deal with the NECANN cannabis conference to promote social equity. He was also interested in education and launched the Minority Cannabis Academy.