Cannabis Beverage Association reposted this
CEO at Vertosa | NCIA Vice Chair of the Board | Cannabis Beverage Association Founding Board Member | High Spirits Host
“Who are you standing next to?” A question posed during the Cannabis Regulators Association (CANNRA) External Stakeholder Conference last week in Minnesota. While the question was addressing the lines being drawn in policy conversations and insinuated that certain parties had become toxic amongst legislators, I found the week to be an incredible opportunity to stand with and connect all sides of the cannabis conversation, as I often seek to do. 🧑💼 𝟏𝟎𝟎+ regulators from 35 different states 👨🏾💼 𝟐𝟎𝟎+ business, policy, advocacy, agency leaders 🍻 𝟏 very THC-friendly city I have far too many takeaways to cover in this post, so stay tuned for my next 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 article, but here’s my quick summary: 🌱 Brilliant to hold the event in MN, a state that lands right in the middle of the cannabis and hemp spectrum, where you can order low-dose THC beverages at nearly every bar and restaurant. The local regulators highlighted the success and that nothing has “burned down.” 🚔 There is little appetite to recriminalize the (natural) plant from the regulators’ perspective, and there seemed to be a shared desire to evaluate what was and wasn’t working across cannabis (hemp + marijuana). However, a regulator is distinctly different than a legislator. 📜 There’s a lot of broken trust between the hemp lobby and legislators. Turns out they’ve learned that “hemp is rope AND dope” and are feeling duped. The hemp strategy needs to change, meet the legislators where they are, and help create the language and path forward. 🏥 For the sake of consumer safety and mainstream adoption, we need standardized labeling across all cannabis products, and we need to stop avoiding the conversation around intoxication. Adverse events are being reported to the FDA, and if hemp wants to avoid a hard swing of the pendulum, holding health and safety as priority-one is a requirement. 🚜 The Farm Bill, which is revisited every 5 years, is not the place to establish the foundation for an entire industry, nor is it the vehicle to regulate final form products. The bill should define hemp and support farmers and congress should be encouraged to protect states rights, as CANNRA has done. 🍾 I had the opportunity to particpate on a panel alongside other industry leaders: “𝐓𝐇𝐂 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 – 𝐈𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐰𝐚𝐲?” The following morning, we hosted a beverage roundtable to brainstorm next steps. Again, stay tuned! Huge thank you to Gillian for an incredible event. I highly recommend this to anyone trying to progress our ecosystem. Also, congrats to Christopher Lackner and the Hemp Beverage Alliance community for an excellent inaugural conference that immediately followed the CANNRA event. Incredible turnout! It made for a long week, but such an excellent way to end the week on a high note with the beverage community in the capitol of THC beverages.
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