What is NCIA’s state affiliate program?

Over the last two years, members from particular states have approached us here at NCIA with the idea of forming state-focused affiliates. While NCIA’s mission is dedicated to federal policy change and the support of a national industry that is coordinated, sustainable, and responsible, we’ve begun a journey with a few of these dedicated members looking to do the same at the state level. Many of our members are already familiar with our state affiliates in California and Illinois.

NCIA dedicates its policy work to issues at the federal level, which informs the playing field for all 50 states. However, individual state cannabis markets have their own unique needs and challenges. An NCIA state affiliate is tasked with pursuing the same priorities as NCIA’s federal mission – advocacy, education, and community – but with a zoomed-in focus on state legislation and regulations, city ordinances, and local networking and business development. The combination of NCIA and a state affiliate gives members a powerfully unified voice in influencing legislation that is fair towards our industry.

How does the state affiliate program work?

Each state affiliate is an independent entity from NCIA, which elects its own board of directors and has its own decision-making processes. The affiliates are non-profit organizations, and dues are collected from members to be used for state advocacy work.

Membership dues for the state affiliate are split between the state affiliate and NCIA, and members of the state affiliate are automatically added to the rosters of NCIA’s national membership, although many members still choose to maintain separate memberships with both the state affiliate and NCIA.

Our state affiliates currently exist in the two most populous states with active medical marijuana programs in place: California and Illinois. We checked in with the leadership of each affiliate to hear more about their progress and activities at the state level.

California Cannabis Industry Association (CCIA)

CCIA’s Executive Director and co-founder is Nate Bradley, who works closely with their official lobbyist, Amy Jenkins, to influence fair legislation and policies for the ever-evolving cannabis industry. CCIA’s membership currently sits at 132 members and growing. 

“In 2015, CCIA hosted numerous well-attended membership networking and educational events throughout the state,” says Bradley. “We also added new staff to our ranks. In the fall we hired a Membership Coordinator. This in turn greatly increased our ability to reach out and provide services to our current members and build new membership at the same time.”

CCIA focuses on the state regulatory structure for California’s cannabis industry, working to influence regulations for the medical marijuana industry in the state legislature. CCIA has endorsed the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), a full legalization state ballot initiative being proposed for 2016. 

“More than any other legalization measures competing for the 2016 state ballot, AUMA represents the collective input of California’s lawful medical cannabis industry,” said CCIA President Sean Luse, who is also COO of the nation’s longest continually operating medical cannabis dispensary, Berkeley Patients Group.

So what are CCIA’s plans for the upcoming year?

“CCIA has a lot of big plans for 2016,” says Bradley. “Currently we are planning on bringing a new deputy director, increasing the amount of events we hold, developing our local government outreach program, and increasing the amount of membership committees we have.”

“We will also be heavily involved in any legislation clean-up, tracking the regulatory rule-writing process, and last but not least, making sure we are actively involved in influencing any cannabis ballot initiatives that may go before voters in November.”

CCIA’s 2015 victories are listed here, along with details of the requests that were successfully negotiated and included in the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act.

Illinois Cannabis Industry Association (ILCIA)

Kayvan Khalatbari, co-founder of Denver Relief, serves on the board of directors for ILCIA and offers insight into the progress of its formation over the last year. “With all the work the National Cannabis Industry Association is doing to progress policy, advocacy, and education on the federal level, it’s important to have that same influence on the state level,” says Khalatbari.

“We’re working hard to create a model that is in line with NCIA’s mission and tone, but also considerate of the cultural and political nuances present in Illinois. We’ve assembled a great group to form our initial board of directors, which includes cultivation and dispensary operators, attorneys, lobbyists and ancillary service providers… in a sense, most stakeholders in this new and exciting industry. We intend on bringing aboard a doctor and a patient representative as well in this new year to ensure all voices relevant to the success of this industry have a seat at the table.”

“With our current 25 members we have some room to grow, but have no doubt that will happen as we become more active and visible in 2016. Between assisting in the development and implementation of the NCIA local Cannabis Caucuses here in Chicago, assembling our own quarterly educational symposiums, networking events, and a lobby day in April, as well as collaborating with other groups to add qualifying conditions in the medical cannabis program, we’re poised to make a big push in having a positive and responsible influence as this industry gets off the ground here.”

“The bridge to our national partners at NCIA can only benefit that push forward and help ensure that cannabis businesses in Illinois are represented at all levels of government for years to come.”

Looking to get involved in one of our state affiliates? Visit their websites:

CCIA – www.cacannabisindustry.org

ILCIA – www.ilcia.org

Join us for our 6th Annual NCIA Member Lobby Days in Washington, D.C. on May 12 & 13, 2016.