DC Exclusive Scoop: Cannabis Industry CEOs, Federal Legislators Squad For Cannabis
Through
Over 20 CEOs from the cannabis industry attended the US Cannabis Council’s second CEO Summit in Washington DC a few days ago to advocate for cannabis reform, including:
- 1906
- land ownership
- Akerna
- Anacostia Organics
- Bridge City collective
- canopy growth
- Central Coast Agriculture/Raw Garden
- The Cronos Group
- cultivated
- curaleaf
- flower one
- flow stroke
- forian
- Greenlane Holdings
- Holistic Industries
- houseplant
- LivWell
- Marijuana Policy Project
- PharmaCann
- standard wellness
- True Green Global
- weed cards
Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels
Executives from member companies Dutchie, Foley Hoag, Husch Blackwell and Vicente Sederberg also attended.
The CEOs and their staff arrived Tuesday night and attended 60 meetings with offices on Capitol Hill on Wednesday and Thursday. They met with members of both parties and both chambers with differing opinions on cannabis, from champions like Reps. Joyce and Perlmutter to current opponents of legalization.
Rep. Nancy Mace met CEOs and spoke at the reception Wednesday night. Many of the CEOs also participated in two local fundraisers — one Democrat and one Republican — organized by the campaigns.
What CEOs say
Canopy Growth CEO David Klein was “even more heartened by the bipartisan support for federal cannabis reform on Capitol Hill” after discussions with key stakeholders at Congress.
“What became most clear from our talks is the shared responsibility we have to advance legalization as we seek to boost the U.S. economy and unlock the 1.2 million quality jobs that federal legalization can create.” “, he said.
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Jessica Billingsley, CEO of Akerna and chair of the US Cannabis Council, added that these conversations about federal cannabis reform have shifted from the ‘if’ to the ‘when’ and ‘how’ of this eventuality: “We are already working on specific strategies and legislation vehicles for the short term, followed by our longer-term goal of achieving full US federal legalization and determination of cannabis.”
Christian Sederberg, founding partner of Vicente Sederberg LLP, also spoke exclusively.
Photo by Bet_Noire/Getty Images
“Members of Congress are more knowledgeable than ever on important cannabis policy issues. They know that the legal cannabis industry is now a major driver of jobs and commerce in many states across the country, and they appreciate the urgency of federal reform. We were pleased to see that they were optimistic about the prospects for this session,” he said.
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Finally, Kellen O’Keefe, CEO of Flower One, called for accelerated action.
“The time to legalize and regulate cannabis is now. We have the support of the American people and need our elected officials in Washington to work together on incremental reforms like the Safe Banking Act,” O’Keefe said. “Our industry is the fastest growing, highest taxed, job creating and community building industry in the world. It is time we got the support we need to ensure we can build a sustainable and equitable future for cannabis.”
This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been republished with permission.
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