A Message from the Executive Director

Dear friend:

2013 has been a watershed year for the legal cannabis industry, with unprecedented momentum toward replacing criminal marijuana markets with regulated storefronts — from new medical cannabis states like Illinois and Massachusetts to the establishment of adult-use markets in Colorado and Washington. The industry is truly growing up, and NCIA’s membership has grown more than three fold over the last year.

Thanks to you and almost 400 other responsible cannabis professionals that make up NCIA’s network, we’ve been able to significantly increase the reach of our message in Washington, DC and in the media. We’ve also greatly expanded our educational programming within the industry to arm cannabis entrepreneurs with the latest information and to instill the core values of responsibility, professionalism, and civic engagement throughout the cannabis business community.

I’m sure you’ve had an exceedingly busy year — I know the last 12 months have been the most active of my professional life — but as the year comes to a close, I hope you get the opportunity to enjoy time with your friends and family, and reflect on just how fortunate we are to be doing this work at this time in history. The opportunity to create a new American industry only comes around once in a lifetime. It’s truly incredible to be blazing on into this undiscovered territory with you.

Next year will bring about even more progress for the cannabis industry and its trade association. I look forward to continuing our mutual work of creating a future when our industry is afforded the freedom and equality that it justly deserves.

All of us at NCIA are wishing you a great winter holiday and a prosperous New Year!

aaron-smithSincerely,

Aaron_signature-06.10.10

 

Aaron Smith
Executive Director

Medical marijuana dispensary operator and NCIA Founding Member elected mayor of Sebastopol, CA

RJacobIn another signal of the improving public perception of cannabis, cannabis consumers, and the industry that serves them, Sebastopol, CA has elected a medical cannabis advocate to be its mayor. Robert Jacob, 36, is the founder and executive director of Peace in Medicine and CEO of SPARC — both NCIA Founding Member businesses. Originally elected to city council in 2011, Jacob was selected as the next mayor in a unanimous vote of the city council.

Like many long-time cannabis entrepreneurs, Jacob entered the field through social work with people living with debilitating chronic illnesses. In addition to founding Sebastopol’s first medical marijuana dispensary in 2007, he has extensive experience at the head of nonprofits unrelated to medical marijuana and led a nationally-recognized charter school.

While he doesn’t attribute his election to his medical marijuana background, this out-front advocate identifies what’s changed in recent years in an interview with TIME: “what it signifies is that medical cannabis is no longer your whole identity. Historically, if you were a medical-cannabis advocate, that was your defining factor.” As cannabis businesses become more integrated in their communities through strong outreach and philanthropic programs, cannabis business leaders will become more integrated in traditional community leadership circles, and even elected to top positions.

“For me, to serve successfully — the organizations, communities or constituencies I represent — collaboration is key. I encourage anyone interested in getting more involved in cannabis or in local government to go for it. Starting at the local level, participation is how we shape our future” Jacob said in a statement to NCIA.

TIME has dubbed Jacob America’s “first ganjapreneur turned mayor”, but he is by no means the first to blend a career in public service with a career in cannabusiness: professionals joining the ranks of the cannabis industry now include a former DEA agent, aformer member of Congress, and former marijuana industry regulators.

View a video from NCIA’s Southwest CannaBusiness Symposiumfeaturing a talk from Robert Jacob and others discussing the importance of productive and effective relationships with government officials online.

Legalizing pot: What’s happening in other states?

By Jack Markell for Associated Press

The votes in Washington and Colorado last month legalizing marijuana were just the latest developments in the debate over marijuana use in the United States.

Lawmakers and activists in some other states are contemplating their next moves in regards to marijuana.

Read more: Legalizing pot: What’s happening in other states?.

Federal officials, financial industry representatives meet to address marijuana banking crisis

The federal Bank Secrecy Act Advisory Group met December 12 for a “frank discussion” among federal regulators, financial industry representatives, and members of law enforcement regarding the banking crisis for state-legal marijuana businesses.According to Jennifer Shasky Calvery, director of the federal Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN),  FinCEN and other Treasury Department groups have begun conversations with the Department of Justice. The Bank Secrecy Act Advisory Group advises the Director of FinCEN on the operations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and is the means by which modifications to BSA regulations are considered. Current BSA regulations require banks to file “Suspicious Activity Reports” any time a transaction of $5,000 or more takes place if the financial institution has reason to believe that it may be connected to illegal activity. This requirement is the core policy creating an impediment to marijuana businesses securing and maintaining bank accounts.A September Senate Judiciary Committee hearing reinforced the growing consensus among federal  and state officials that the lack of access to banking services is now the most pressing obstacle to ensuring  governments can control marijuana sales in the states where it is legal for medical or adult use and federal enforcement priorities can be upheld. Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) was particularly aggressive in his push for a solution to the problem, urging U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole to fix the problem before we have a “shoot out somewhere and have innocent people or law enforcement endangered by that.”

Though little is expected to result immediately from this meeting and details remain under wraps, it clearly indicates that a growing group of lawmakers and regulators are aware that excluding a billion-dollar legal market from banking services is untenable.

Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, addressed the problem in a statement to the media, saying, “Without access to basic banking services, many legitimate cannabis businesses are forced to manage sales, payroll, and even tax bills entirely in cash. That puts their customers, employees, and fellow community members at completely unnecessary risk. Everyone agrees that the situation is untenable; the Treasury Department and the Department of Justice must act and act quickly. The tide of public opinion is turning ever more quickly in support of regulated marijuana markets and, in 2014, at least six states will be implementing new regulations for these markets. It is long past time for the federal government to stop putting citizens in harm’s way by denying legally recognized businesses access to secure banking services.”

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