‘I Thought He Wanted To Be A Drug Dealer,’ How Cannabis Healed A Father-Son Rift And Sparked Two Thriving Businesses
Carlos “Los” Arias spent years building one of California’s most ambitious cannabis companies. But the moment that mattered most didn’t happen under grow lights or in a boardroom.
It happened at Cedars-Sinai Hospital, where Arias, then deep in Colorado’s cannabis industry, begged a doctor to recommend medical cannabis to his skeptical Cuban-American father, Manuel F. Arias.
“I saw cannabis as a drug, and my son was telling me he wanted to be a drug dealer,” Manuel would later recall. “How could I be happy about that?”
What followed changed both of their lives and laid the groundwork for a new legacy.
From Misunderstanding To Reconciliation
In 2012, Manuel was preparing to hand over the family’s health insurance brokerage to his son Los, who, fresh out of law school, had other plans. He wanted to get into the cannabis industry—an idea his father couldn’t support.
Then came Manuel’s stroke in 2014.
During recovery, Manuel’s physician at Cedars-Sinai turned out to be a medical cannabis advocate. On his son’s urging, Manuel began taking edibles and tinctures. Sleep improved. Healing accelerated. And slowly, something else happened: the wall between father and son …