Las Vegas, NV – The National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) will celebrate its fifth year of operation as the only national trade association for marijuana businesses with a gala dinner on Wednesday, November 11, in Las Vegas, featuring Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) as guest speakers.

At “Looking Back, Moving Forward,” NCIA’s 5th anniversary banquet, the organization will celebrate its history and that of the movement that helped create the cannabis industry, while looking ahead to the many challenges still to be faced. Rep. Titus will offer welcoming remarks.

During the banquet, NCIA will present the 2015 Legislative Leadership Award to Rep. Lee, a long-time champion of marijuana policy reform who has co-sponsored multiple pieces of legislation designed to protect cannabis businesses, patients, and consumers from federal interference. Included in those is the Marijuana Businesses Access to Banking Act, NCIA’s priority legislation that would end the industry’s banking crisis and provide financial services for the state-legal cannabis businesses.

NCIA was founded in late 2010 by Aaron Smith and Steve Fox, seasoned advocates for marijuana policy reform who foresaw the need for a voice representing the businesses of the emerging cannabis industry in Washington, D.C. The organization was founded with fewer than 30 members, but has grown rapidly in its first five years, now representing over 900 member-businesses.

NCIA is the recognized leader in advocacy on behalf of cannabis businesses at the federal level, focused on fixing the industry’s lack of banking access and cripplingly unfair federal tax burdens. NCIA also helps build a responsible, sustainable cannabis business community, through dozens of educational and networking events nationwide, including the annual Cannabis Business Summit®.

More details about NCIA’s 5th anniversary banquet can be found below. Tickets can be purchased at http://thecannabisindustry.org/anniversary.

Looking Back, Moving Forward – NCIA’s 5th Anniversary Banquet
November 11, 2015
7pm – 10pm
The Vortex at the LINQ Hotel
3535 Las Vegas Blvd South
Las Vegas, NV

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