Named one of Fortune magazine’s 7 Most Powerful People in America’s Marijuana Industry, Ricardo Baca is a 25-year veteran journalist, Clio Awards juror, keynote speaker, two-time TEDx veteran, Marketer of the Year and drug policy futurist. He served as The Denver Post’s first-ever marijuana editor and founded news vertical The Cannabist, where he extensively covered the advent of adult-use cannabis and related issues across the country and around the world, as seen in the feature documentary Rolling Papers (Netflix). In 2016, Ricardo launched Grasslands: A Journalism-Minded Agency to work directly with business leaders in highly regulated industries, including cannabis and psychedelics. Named Marketer of the Year by AdCann in 2019 and 2021, Ricardo has received numerous accolades for his trailblazing work throughout the media paradigm, and continues to columnize for AdWeek, mg and other publications. Ricardo is considered to be the world’s first and “most prestigious” marijuana editor; one of Brookings Institution’s 12 Key People to Watch in Marijuana Policy; one of Time magazine’s 140 best Twitter feeds; one of Sensi magazine’s 24 Cannabis Pioneers Who Matter.