I got a chance to talk with a very surprised-to-be-nominated Cyd this morning. As Cyd acknowledged to me, the 2015 Oregon Person of the Year should be Chris Mintz, who put himself in harm’s way to protect others during the Umpqua Community College shooting, and she found it to be a little intimidating to be on a list with such a “true hero.”

“I’m honored to be listed, but this isn’t about me,” Cyd told me. “My story just happened to resonate with people because the cannabis community is still fighting for true equality. My whole reason for going public was to help end the stigma surrounding cannabis use. I just hope that I can be a positive asset for the movement.”

“I was definitely surprised when I started getting messages about the nomination and I think that it is great that people care a lot about the issue,” Ms. Maurer continued. “My story and this nomination reflect the need to continue the conversation around drug testing policies and cannabis law reform in general. While honored for the write-up, the description still demonstrated the stigma, implying that I had to ‘learn the hard way’. I didn’t have to learn the policy, I knew that policy, but simply prefer to responsibly use cannabis. We are winning, but there is still much to be done.”