A visit to Eden Labs is often a first step in the development of a company’s business plan. Another part of that plan should be active participation in the development of the entire industry. So the advice I give immediately is to join NCIA because it is an organization of professionals who enjoy networking and supporting each other, and most importantly, NCIA is one of the very few unifying organizations in the industry. Their focus is lobbying for issues that affect us all: Ending prohibition, banking access, and reforming 280E. We have to unify as an industry in order to educate the general public on these issues, but especially our legislative bodies. I have gone to Washington DC with NCIA to lobby and it is a very powerful and enlightening experience. Our voices matter and are effective!

I joined NCIA in early 2014 because the organization’s mission to elevate the industry is consistent with mine. I have been impressed not only by the work NCIA has done to present the industry externally with its lobbying efforts but also the tremendous job it has done to educate members, whether through emails, small meetings across the country on a variety of issues or the highly successful June conference in Denver.

As I have watched the cannabis industry grow over the past three+ years, I have seen the most important and immediate struggles shift from the local and state level to the federal government. The issues surrounding banking, merchant processing, and income tax (280e) are absolutely critical for this industry to survive and prosper, and the solutions to the problems are only found at the federal level. NCIA is the singular organization that has been able to push the message of the necessity of a federal focus, and that message must be carried to all industry participants as soon as possible.

We mindfully manufacture cannabis; NCIA mindfully manages industry-related issues with a similar passion and commitment. For us, that made joining NCIA logical first step following our licensing under Washington’s I502 law.