Goes Neg. Cannabis Council solves!

Some of the lobbying efforts have been taken up by a new coalition which is spending big in hopes of revamping the cannabis industry’s strategy on Capitol Hill: the U.S. Cannabis Council. That group formed in 2021 with the goal of unifying the cannabis industry’s message on Capitol Hill. It spent $150,000 on lobbying last quarter and is expected to spend as much or more in the coming months, according to a spokesperson. The group has also launched a super PAC dedicated to cannabis reform.

“We want to be a big tent organization,” said David Culver, the group’s senior vice president of public affairs. “Everybody realizes that if we have a singular and unified industry voice … that we’re gonna have a lot more success.”

While all companies are eligible for membership in the new group, they must contribute at least $10,000 annually to be eligible for a board seat, according to the group’s website.

That means that the group’s leadership consists almost entirely of large cannabis companies, known as multi-state operators, and other national companies, like software and packaging companies.

Another lobbying group, American Trade Association For Cannabis and Hemp, which began formally lobbying in late 2019 but has kept a relatively low profile on Capitol Hill, has also modestly increased its lobbying in recent months. The group has spent $50,000 so far this year on lobbying. In 2022, it spent a total of $50,000 for an entire year of lobbying.

In the first half of 2019, there were four major national trade associations in Washington lobbying on cannabis: the Cannabis Trade Federation, the Global Alliance for Cannabis Commerce, the National Cannabis Industry Association, and the National Cannabis Roundtable. The first two in that list appear to have folded entirely; leaders did not respond to requests for comment from STAT.

The National Cannabis Industry Association, meanwhile, has dramatically decreased its spending on federal lobbying amid its own financial woes. And the fourth group, the National Cannabis Roundtable, which represents some of the nation’s largest cannabis companies and counts former House Speaker John Boehner as a co-chair, has kept its lobbying spending relatively steady.

Every source STAT spoke with acknowledged that the cannabis industry is spending less lobbying Capitol Hill than in previous years, but some argued that the industry is also more carefully honing its lobbying strategy.

“There may be less company spending, but the way that I think companies including ours are spending is more pragmatic and it’s much more focused,” said Adam Goers, the senior vice president of corporate affairs for Columbia Care, which operates cannabis dispensaries in more than a dozen states. Goers’ company recently fired its two outside lobbying firms but is in the process of interviewing new lobbyists, he said. It joined the U.S. Cannabis Council, too.