Colin Fraser’s life has been punctuated by moments that could have ended him. He was shot eight times. He was wrongly incarcerated on cannabis-related charges. He came home with scars, a record, and the weight of proving himself in a society that rarely forgives.
What he did next, however, changed everything. He was looking to build something larger than himself. Caring for his mother during her cancer treatment, Fraser witnessed the gaps in medical cannabis access firsthand: how older patients were ignored in outreach, how little guidance existed beyond trial and error, and how isolated people felt navigating medicine without support.
From that experience grew a constellation of initiatives that today define his work. Fraser is the founder of Upling, the first Black-owned cannabis delivery app in the U.S.; the creator of Bud-E, an AI-powered genetics tool that brings precision medicine into cannabis care; and the architect of Grass to Grace, an entrepreneurship program helping justice-impacted people turn criminal records into legacies.
Taken together, these initiatives may sound like three separate projects, but for Fraser, they are all branches of the same tree: equity. Whether it’s economic equity for returning citizens or health equity for patients struggling to navigate cannabis treatment, his work is about breaking down barriers that have historically excluded Black and Brown communities.
Lessons from a wounded system
Fraser’s path carries the imprint of every barrier he’s faced. “My journey into cannabis entrepreneurship didn’t start in a boardroom; it started in a courtroom,” he says. Being incarcerated gave him an unfiltered view of prohibition’s cruelty: communities dismantled, opportunities stolen, survival tied to resilience.
But there’s another lesson Fraser carried out of prison: the importance of solidarity. “I saw too many Black and Brown entrepreneurs competing for crumbs instead of …
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Author: Camila Berriex / High Times
