BY DR. LLOYD COVENS
Hundreds of national cannabis businesses will flock to Washington DC for the 9th annual NCIA Lobby Days. Tuesday, May 21, NCIA will host a breakfast and legislative briefing on H.R. 1595: The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act.
This legislation, which currently has 180 cosponsors in the House and was approved in a bipartisan vote in the House Financial Services Committee earlier this year, would protect financial institutions which want to work with cannabis businesses that are in compliance with state laws. The NCIA (National Cannabis Industry Association) is American largest cannabis trade organization and was founded in 2010.
Speakers include: bill sponsors Rep. Denny Heck (D-WA) and Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO). The project is being guided by Michelle Rutter, government relations manager for NCIA; Tanner Daniel, vice president of the American Banking Association; Becky Dansky, executive director of the Safe and Responsible Banking Alliance; and Gail Rand, chief financial officer for ForwardGro, the first of 15 companies licensed to cultivate cannabis in Maryland. Visits to Congressional offices will continue all day on May 22-23.
On Thursday, May 23, NCIA will be joined by representatives of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and the Minority Cannabis Business Association (MCBA) for a breakfast and briefing on the rollout of NCIA’s new report, “Increasing Equity in the Cannabis Industry: Six Achievable Goals for Policy Makers,” and MCBA’s Model Municipal Social Equity Ordinance.
Speakers include: Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA); Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ); Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA); Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA); Shanita Penny, president of MCBA, and Khurshid Khoja, NCIA vice-chair, and principal of Greenbridge Corporate law firm.
–Based in Denver, Dr. Lloyd Covens, DBA is a seasoned cannabis industry journalist and the publisher of West420 NewsWeekly. Writing his doctorate on diffusion of innovations, Covens has been an expert journalist/researcher for 20 years chronicling new technology, global television and renewable energy advancements. He has reported on developments in the cannabis and hemp industry with weekly reports since 2014 covering the western U.S. for legal medical cannabis, recreational sales and hemp production. Covens is also the creator of the annual CO Hemp CBD conference held in Pueblo, Colorado.