Steven Davenport: From ECHS to Cannabis Consultant

An El Cerrito High School alum took center stage this week in news coverage of Washington state's legal cannabis policies.

Steven Davenport, a 2005 ECHS grad, is managing director for BOTEC Analysis Corp., the apparent winner of a bidding process to become Washington's official consultants on legal marijuana.

"With more than 30 people involved, the team comprises a wide range of opinions on marijuana legalization, but none is relevant to the task at hand: figuring out how it can best be accomplished, balancing the needs of a working marijuana distribution system with the interests of public health," Davenport said at a press conference Tuesday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Davenport, who now lives in Oakland, attended Kensington Elementary School and Portola Middle School and was a member of Kensington Scout Troop 100, according to his mother, Sandy Tarbet of Richmond.

He graduated from UCLA, then joined BOTEC, which is run by one of his former UCLA professors. Tarbet says Davenport's plans to attend graduate school may be on hold with his new assignment as a Washington state consultant.

Davenport and the BOTEC team of more than 30 people will advise Washington officials on how to regulate the state's newly legalized and taxed marijuana industry.

You can read more about Davenport and the BOTEC consultancy in this San Francisco Chronicle article (and see a photo of him at the Tuesday press conference) and see video of CNN's coverage here.