NCIA is talking to Etienne Fontan, and Michael Krawitz of the Veterans Action Council. Being in D.C.s recently with NCIA for our 10th Annual Cannabis Industry Lobby Days event, lobbying for the cannabis industry, most were talking to Congressional offices about SAFE Banking, 280E, and comprehensive reform like the CAOA. We discuss what the VAC members’ focus was on during their meetings with members of Congress, and how those meetings went.

Then we dive into the current bills out there that our guests are drumming up support for and how, if passed into law, would impact the lives of Veterans in the U.S. During the press conference, Etienne spoke at the podium set up in the Senate Swamp. He said shared very poetic and real sentiments about the sacrifices Veterans made with their lives and how important it is for Congress to act on their behalf.

Etienne Fontan is Vice President and Co-Owner of Berkeley Patients Group (BPG). BPG is the nation’s oldest continuously operating medical cannabis dispensary, established in 1999. He has an extensive background as an engaged activist and public speaker seeking to make cannabis legal and safe. Starting in 1993, he was a director of the Cannabis Action Network. He is an Army combat veteran of Desert Storm and served in the WV Army National Guard. He now lobbies nationally and internationally on veterans’ behalf for the use of cannabis and natural medicines.

Michael Krawitz is a disabled United States Air Force Veteran and serves as Executive director of Veterans For Medical Cannabis Access [VMCA] as well as other board and advisory roles. He successfully negotiated the first ever VA medical cannabis policy in 2010 and has since overseen the WHO process in Geneva and then the United Nations process on the WHO cannabis recommendations, ultimately removing cannabis and cannabis resin from the Single Convention Treaty “most dangerous drug category”. He also serves on the Virginia Cannabis Public Health Advisory Council.