Video: NCIA Today – Thursday, April 20, 2023

It’s the 4/20 Cannabis Industry Update!
Join NCIA Director of Communication Bethany Moore for an update on what’s going on with NCIA and our members.

 

Video: NCIA Today – Thursday, February 9, 2023

NCIA Director of Communications Bethany Moore checks in with what’s going on across the country with the National Cannabis Industry Association’s membership, board, allies, and staff. Join us every other Thursday on LinkedIN for NCIA Today Live.

 

 

 

 

Video: NCIA Today – Thursday, January 26, 2023

NCIA Director of Communications Bethany Moore checks in with what’s going on across the country with the National Cannabis Industry Association’s membership, board, allies, and staff. Join us every other Thursday on Facebook and LinkedIN for NCIA Today Live.

VIDEO: Head to D.C. with us on the “Path to Marijuana Reform”

With NCIA’s 7th Annual Cannabis Industry Lobby Days less than a month away, Deputy Director Taylor West reports on some exciting news out of Washington, D.C., earlier this month. Several members of Congress introduced a package of legislation to support the growing cannabis industry, including a fix to the crippling taxation of 280E. Find out more about the “Path to Marijuana Reform” and get excited for your chance to speak directly with the lawmakers in the House and Senate about our industry’s future. Register for Lobby Days today and join us in D.C., May 16-17.


 


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HISTORY: Congress Takes Bipartisan Step to End War on Medical Marijuana

With a 219-189 vote, including 49 Republicans voting in support, the House of Representatives approved a measure denying the use of federal funds to undermine state-authorized medical cannabis laws

First act of Congress to protect medical marijuana patients and caregivers reflects overwhelming public support for medical cannabis

WASHINGTON, DC – In an historic vote late last night, the U.S. House of Representatives took a major step to end the federal government’s war on medical cannabis patients and caregivers. With 219 Members of Congress, including 49 Republicans, voting in support, the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment to the Commerce, Justice, and Science appropriations bill forbids the use of federal funds to raid, harass, or otherwise interfere with medical cannabis patients or providers in states where medical marijuana is legal.

“On behalf of lawful cannabis businesses across the United States, NCIA applauds the Members of Congress who supported this historic step,” said National Cannabis Industry Association director of government relations Michael Correia. “Voters overwhelmingly support the idea that patients whose lives can be changed by medical cannabis should be able to get that medicine legally, and the time has come for the federal government to respect the states that have made that possible. The House took that step last night.”

“This is a truly historic vote and a great day for state-legal businesses that many advocates and business owners, myself included, have worked for years to make happen,” said Etienne Fontan, chief operations officer for Berkeley Patients Group in Berkeley, California. “We’re elated and hope this signals an end to federal interference in states where cannabis is legal.”

Berkeley Patients Group is a licensed medical cannabis collective in California and has provided legal cannabis to patients for 15 years and has been the target of federal property forfeiture action despite its standing as one of the nation’s most well-respected medical cannabis operations. Fontan, a Gulf War combat veteran who also serves on the Board of Directors for NCIA.

The Justice, Science, and Commerce appropriations bill making its way through the U.S. Senate does not currently include the language of the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, so the provision must either be added during Senate debate or retained during the conference committee actions that will reconcile differences between the two bills.

“If you’ve been wondering when Congress would be forced to catch up to public opinion on cannabis, it started last night,” said Correia. “The House of Representatives has done its part to respect state laws, patients, and the will of the voters. The Senate should do the same.”

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Judiciary Committee Hearing Underscores Consensus: New Marijuana Industry Requires Access to Banking

Senators, Deputy Attorney General Cole, and witnesses all call for swift action to resolve banking crisis faced by legal marijuana businesses

Washington, D.C. – Today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing reinforced the growing consensus among legal marijuana regulators, law enforcement officials, and cannabis business professionals that allowing access to banking services is now the most pressing obstacle to the success of the regulated marijuana industry realizing its potential to effectively control marijuana sales in the states where it is legal for medical or adult use and ensuring the eight federal enforcement priorities outlined in last month’s Department of Justice memo can be upheld.
Witnesses Deputy U.S. Attorney James Cole, King County Sheriff John Urquhart, and Colorado Governor’s Chief Legal Counsel Jack Finlaw affirmed the concerns of Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) , and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) that federal regulators’ actions to block state-legal marijuana business access to simple banking and financial services will inevitably undermine the viability of state-legal marijuana industries. Furthermore, Cole acknowledged that in states where marijuana has been decriminalized or made legal, implementing a strictly regulated system in which marijuana is sold is the only way to prevent criminal activity such as diversion to youth and across state lines and empowerment of criminals and cartels.
“We need to address the [banking situation] and we are working on it,” stated Deputy Attorney General James Cole who indicated the Department of Justice is conferring with the Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Division to resolve the issue.
Statement from Aaron Smith, NCIA Executive Director: 
“The Department of Justice is finally taking seriously the dangers that a lack of access to simple banking services poses to consumers, employees and business owners. We are encouraged that the growing consensus among essentially all stakeholders is that banking access must be available to legal businesses. It portends a quick reform to this dangerous and unnecessary situation.”

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The National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) is the only national trade association working to advance the interests of cannabis-related businesses in the US. NCIA promotes the growth of a responsible and legitimate cannabis industry and works for a favorable social, economic and legal environment for that industry in the United States.

National Cannabis Industry Association Statement on DOJ Response to CO, WA Marijuana Laws

The National Cannabis Industry Association welcomes apparent shift in Department of Justice intent regarding marijuana enforcement

Washington, DC – In a memo issued to U.S. Attorneys today, Deputy Attorney General James Cole reinforced guidance indicating that the Department of Justice will not interfere with implementation of adult-use marijuana laws in Colorado and Washington.

Statement from Aaron Smith, Executive Director of the National Cannabis Industry Association:

“We are encouraged by today’s response from the Obama administration. At the heart of the guidance is a willingness to respect the voters who have decided a regulated marijuana market is preferable to a criminal market in their states. Cannabis-related businesses in these states are creating thousands of jobs and generating tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue. These are clear public benefits.
Now is not the time to push marijuana sales back under ground. The new voter-approved, regulated systems in Colorado and Washington should be allowed to proceed. We have full confidence the businesses in these states will comply with any requirements put forth by the Department of Justice. That is what they do. They comply with rules and provide a service to their customers and their communities. We are pleased to see the Obama administration will not cause harm to citizens and states by shutting these businesses down, and hope this will lead to an expansion of sensible policies related to marijuana such as allowing these businesses access to banking and taxing them at a fair rate.”

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The National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) is the only national trade association working to advance the interests of cannabis-related businesses in the US. NCIA promotes the growth of a responsible and legitimate cannabis industry and works for a favorable social, economic and legal environment for that industry in the United States.

Medical Cannabis Businesswomen Call on President Obama to Freeze Enforcement Actions While Reviewing Administration’s Medical Marijuana Policy

Washington, DC — The National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), in conjunction with the Women’s CannaBusiness Network, a project it launched earlier this year, today called on President Obama to cease enforcement actions against state-legal medical cannabis providers while the administration reviews its policies to determine whether they are in the public interest. Respected industry businesswomen defended their work and powerfully expressed their frustration with the administration’s crackdown.

“The women here today are compassionate and courageous leaders,” said Jill Lamoureaux , owner of Colorado Dispensary Services. “They are pioneers in alternative medicine. They are job creators and tax revenue generators. They are hear to bring awareness to the Obama administration’s reversal on medical marijuana policy and to ask that the Justice Department immediately stop shutting down state-legal businesses that are serving patients, creating jobs and generating tax revenues.”

Jen Reynolds , a mother of four who will lose her job on Monday because of the actions of the U.S. attorney in Colorado, urged the President to think about the people whom are being affected.

“This is not about ‘marijuana dealers,'” Reynolds said. “This is about medical cannabis patients having a safe and regulated environment in which to purchase their medicine. It is about employees like me, who had the amazing opportunity to help patients alleviate their suffering, while earning a living wage. My center should have been a model for others to follow, not a target for federal action.”

NCIA also released a report entitled, “The Colorado Cannabis Industry: A Tale of Ten Cities,” which details the sales and tax revenues generated by medical marijuana centers in ten Colorado cities.

“The ten cities included in the report alone generated close to $10 million in state and local sales taxes in 2011,” explained Aaron Smith , NCIA executive director. “This money is being used to improve government services in these areas, which is one more benefit of a regulated medical cannabis industry.”

 

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