Lukas grew up in the Southeastern US. He noticed cannabis at an early age around the creek banks, beaches and gatherings his parents frequented. The blind kid from Alabama wouldn’t know what the “herby” smell was until his teens, but cannabis’s friendly aroma always felt familiar and of home. It wasn’t until his late teens that he tried cannabis for the first time. It didn’t take long for him to notice it was something he could count on to help him deal with symptoms related to his blindness, but not much was known about medical cannabis in the early 90’s. Lukas used cannabis “recreationally” throughout his twenties, navigating a maze of Alabama dirt roads, racially motivated cannabis laws and countless police roadblocks.
Throughout his twenties, Lukas would have many encounters with the police, often narrowly escaping arrest by hiding or disposing of cannabis. No matter how much cannabis he was carrying, there was always a plan on how to ditch the medicine. Lukas readily acknowledges privilege and a lot of luck helped him escape arrest in those days. However, many of his friends would not be so lucky, losing their careers, freedom, and even their lives in the drug war. He would later attend the University of West Florida and earn a BS in Environmental Policy all along using cannabis under the threat of arrest.