Franjo Grotenhermen

Hi, I’m Franjo Grotenhermen. I live in Maryland and work as a CBD lobbyist. I have had a professional interest in CBD for decades. My interests include art and history, so I am fortunate to have spent my adult life in an area so full of fascinating museums and exhibits. I’m quite familiar with the local art exhibits and history museums, and I enjoy sharing them with friends and family who visit from out of town.

Quite often, the people who I show these museums to admit that they weren’t interested in going, but that I changed their minds. I think that my skill for convincing people of the things I’m passionate about has made me naturally inclined to be a lobbyist.

Professional Experience and Interests

I’m a very political person and have been since middle school, but I never wanted to become a politician myself. I realized one day that I could use my passion to fuel work as a lobbyist, where I would be able to encourage change on the issues that were most important to me without the unappealing aspects of running for or holding office.

In high school and college, I volunteered and interned as a lobbyist. I found it very rewarding, but for a while, I felt that I was still searching for the issue that would be important enough to me for me to base an entire career around it.

Then, while I was still at university, a close family member was diagnosed with cancer. Their chemotherapy treatments took a severe toll on their body, and it was devastating for the family to watch. One day, someone suggested that they use CBD to mitigate the side effects of the treatment. It was incredible what a difference the CBD made on their quality of life. They eventually went into remission, and today they are still cancer-free, and many of us feel that the improvements brought about by the CBD gave them the motivation to keep fighting.

I knew that, if that family member hadn’t lived in a state that had very accepting CBD and cannabis laws, they wouldn’t have been able to improve so significantly. I couldn’t stand to think that other families in other states would have to suffer through harsh cancer treatments because of a lack of access to options like CBD, so I knew I had finally found the issue I wanted to fight for.

Conclusion

I keep apprised of all relevant information on CBD in order to convince legislators to expand access to it. We’ve made huge strides recently, but my colleagues and I don’t intend to rest until everyone in the nation can easily get the treatment options they need. I hope that I can also use this knowledge to inform the general public and incite societal change, as well.