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NCIA’s Allied Associations Program Returns!

by Rachel Kurtz-McAlaine, NCIA’s Deputy Director of Public Policy

Like many of you, NCIA needed to pare down during the pandemic. This has been hard on everyone and we understand first hand the sacrifices. Thankfully cannabis was deemed essential throughout much of the country, which isn’t a surprise to any of us in the industry. But we know that our members still needed to adjust their operations and spend a lot of money trying to stay safe and in operation. Like you, we also needed to adjust.

During this time we weren’t able to oversee our Allied Associations Program, although we maintained our relationships and were able to include many of our Allied Associations and their valuable insight in our webinars. As the number of vaccinations continues to rise and things start opening up, we can’t help but feel hopeful in the future — not to mention a Senate Majority Leader committed to legalization. We want to thank everyone for their patience and announce that we are picking up where we left off on the Allied Associations Program.

What is the Allied Associations Program?

The Allied Associations Program is a network of cannabis trade associations from the local, state, national, and international level designed to harness our collective knowledge and work together to advance the cannabis industry. As the leading national cannabis industry trade association, we felt an obligation to the community to make sure cannabis businesses have strong trade associations to educate and represent them in every way, so we started this complimentary program for other cannabis trade associations.

While the focus of our lobbying efforts is at the federal level, we know what a huge impact state and local policies have on the day-to-day operations of our members. The Allied Associations Program allows us to keep updated about these important issues so we remain a valued resource. It also allows us to keep other associations informed on federal issues and utilize this extensive national network for important federal policy action items.

We encourage our members to learn more about the Allied Associations Program and check out the directory of participating associations. Being part of the Allied Associations Program means the association is providing educational opportunities for their staff and leadership, and networking with other cannabis trade associations from around the country, ensuring they are adding value for their members.

What does this mean for cannabis trade associations?

Current Allied Associations need to check their email for information on the next Allied Associations Program monthly call, and updating any information that has changed via the NCIA member portal. In addition to the return of monthly calls, Allied Associations should be aware of NCIA’s upcoming conferences: our Midwest Cannabis Business Conference in Detroit in September, and the Cannabis Business Summit in San Francisco in December. Allied Associations are visible at our events and important to the planning process.

Cannabis trade associations who would like to learn more about joining should check out our Allied Associations Program page and click on “learn more about the AAP” to get in touch with Rachel Kurtz-McAlaine, our Deputy Director of Public Policy who also manages the program.

 

Allied Association Blog: Cannabis Policy Beyond Our Borders

by Erick Ponce, President of GPIC

NCIA’s Allied Associations Program (“AAP”) facilitates cooperation between NCIA and Allied Associations and the sharing of resources for the mutual benefit of our respective memberships and the cannabis industry more broadly. The AAP provides the means for the leaders and staff of NCIA and Allied Associations to learn from, work with, and support each other.

In this blog, we checked in with our friends south of the border in Mexico, The Grupo Promotor de la Industria de Cannabis in Mexico (GPIC), who has just released its last monthly report.

Check out these highlights from the report: 

SUPREME COURT APPROVES SECOND EXTENSION TO REGULATE CANNABIS IN MEXICO

Due to the work suspensions caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, the Mexican Senate requested the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation for an extension of the deadline to legislate in favor of cannabis regulation. This extension is the second that has been granted; the first was petitioned after the deadline expired in October 2019 and was extended to April 30 of this year. The Supreme Court had granted this extension as a unique and exceptional situation in October 2019, appealing to the complexity of the issue.

USERS DEMAND REOPENING CANNABIS CLUBS IN SPAIN

Associations such as the Patients’ Union for Cannabis Regulation (UPRC) demand that the Spanish government allows reopening these clubs, and that cannabis be considered as an essential good for the life of these patients, as countries like the United States have done. For comparison, other businesses such as tobacco and alcohol sales have been considered essential in this country. The state of alarm has generated measures that cut off the somewhat regulated routes that exist in Spain to acquire cannabis, as is the case with cannabis clubs. These organizations allowed access to medical cannabis to about 200,000 – 500,000 people in total.

CANNABIS INDUSTRY AMID THE PANDEMIC.

The health crisis derived from the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted all economic sectors on a global scale. The cannabis industry is not an exception and has had to adapt to new circumstances. You can find a list of policies in countries where cannabis is legal currently. According to the market research conducted by Prohibition Partners, most consumers in Europe and North America will tend to maintain or increase their cannabis purchases in the coming months (March to June).

READ THE FULL REPORT

Erick Ponce is President of the GPIC.  He has worked for 16 uninterrupted years in the healthcare sector, both private and public (specializing in government sales), where he has dedicated to promoting the individualization of drugs and medications and, with this, the reevaluation of the roles played by physicians, pharmacists, and chemists. 

In 2017, with Artcan as an investor, he created ICAN, with the goal of opening cannabis operations in LATAM, as well as creating a network of technical, operational and commercial infrastructure while promoting education, information, collaboration and certification of cannabis and it’s derivatives for applications in therapeutics and wellness. In 2019 he was chosen as the spokesperson for the “Grupo Promotor de la Industria del Cannabis.”

 

 

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