By Michael Correia, NCIA Director of Government Relations

It’s not too late to register for NCIA’s 6th Annual Cannabis Industry Lobby Days being held May 12th and 13th in Washington, D.C. I hope you’ll join me.

This will be the 3rd NCIA Lobby Days I’ve organized, and each year has gotten bigger and better. In my first year, we had about 60 attendees and about 60 congressional meetings. A year later, we had 100 attendees and 100 meetings. This year, we aim to keep that growth going, with a goal of 150 attendees and 200 congressional meetings. Think about it – having 200 meetings would be such a powerful image for our movement and show Congress the strides we have made over the past few years.

When you attend Lobby Days, you work together with like-minded industry leaders from around the country to make your voice heard. The power of numbers is enormous. Even more importantly, you protect your interests. I don’t have to remind you that cannabis is still illegal at the federal level and people’s businesses are still being shut down, assets seized, and lives ruined. This will never change until Congress addresses this injustice and changes federal law, and they won’t change the laws if the American public is silent on this matter. If you don’t take the time to lobby on these issues and make your voice heard, who will? If you don’t care enough about protecting your business interests, why should Congress care?

NCIA is fighting every day for your interests, but we can’t do it alone. We need you to amplify what we are doing, and be the positive public face of the industry we talk about every day.

For those of you who think, “What difference does it make?” check out Ean Seeb’s recent blog post. Ean visited Washington, D.C., in January and educated members of the Hawaii delegation on the latest in our industry. Soon after, Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) co-sponsored our banking bill (S. 1726). Constantly reminding offices about our issues keeps it on their radar and hearing it from constituents is so important.

Finally, if you’ve been following NCIA, you know we’ve had a lot of success passing pro-cannabis amendments on appropriations bills. It is looking like the House of Representatives will be debating an amendment soon after our Lobby Days that would allow Veterans Affairs doctors to discuss cannabis with their patients. The timeliness is great and gives our members a chance to remind offices why they need to support ALL cannabis reform legislation. With your help, we can have another cannabis victory!

I am excited to see old friends and meet new members next week. I am looking forward to hitting our Lobby Days goals and need your help to make it happen. Remember, if you don’t fight, who will? Please join me.

See you next week!