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Cannabis Policy Reform Update with NCIA’s Government Relations Team

Michael has been at NCIA for over 9 years, and Michelle is close to her 9-year anniversary working at the organization. That date back to when two states, Colorado and Washington state, was just rolling out their adult-use cannabis laws for the first time. So with this, we discuss the tone and temperature when it comes to pro-cannabis policy reform in the halls of Congress at that time.

Lobby Days is easily our favorite NCIA event, and we think many people share the sentiment. Pre-COVID pandemic was always encouraging to see, year after year, the number of NCIA members attending Lobby Days in D.C. grow and grow, reaching over 300 in 2019. So now we see more and more Congressional offices take our group and our concerns seriously. We talk about what are our guest’s reflections on that and much more!

Michelle Rutter Friberg is deputy director of government relations and has worked at NCIA since 2014. Michelle graduated from James Madison University in 2012, where during her studies, she held a year-long internship with Virginia House of Delegates member Tony Wilt (R).

Michael Correia is the director of government relations for the National Cannabis Industry Association. Prior to joining NCIA, Michael spent many years working on Capitol Hill, including working for Rep. George Radanovich (R-CA), who retired in 2010, and the House Committee on Resources, serving three different Chairmen. Previously, he was director of federal affairs for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and senior project manager for the Committee for Responsible Federal Budget.