Cannabis Business Council Formed to Improve Business Conditions in Legal Cannabis Industry
Industry Association Will Support Single Legalization Initiative in California
SACRAMENTO, CA (PRWEB) OCTOBER 05, 2015
Today, cannabis industry leaders announced the formation of the Cannabis Business Council (CBC), a non-profit membership organization designed to improve the business conditions in the legal cannabis industry. Specifically, the Council promotes the values of equal opportunity, diversity, sustainability, fair access, sound public policy, and social responsibility in the cannabis industry. Toward this end, the Council will engage in public education, compliance services for members, legal advocacy, political lobbying, and similar services to the extent allowable under law.
The Council is a non-profit membership organization offering cannabis owners and entrepreneurs in the legal cannabis industry a voice and a vital link to what happens in legislatures, councils and regulatory agencies throughout the country.
As the only national organization effectively representing America’s legal cannabis industry, CBC seeks to provide advocacy and leadership by educating and informing the industry on essential issues key to their interests. First and foremost, CBC will provide a unifying voice to bring a consensus-driven policy making approach to California’s 2016 legalization debate.
CBC Founding member, Justin Hartfield
CBC’s advocacy will bring all the legalization players to the table to unite and mobilize behind a common sense initiative that lays a foundation for the industry to safely and sustainably grow. Without CBC, legal entrepreneurs face burdensome regulations and increased costs, hampering an ability to fairly compete.
In the California initiative debate, current drafts do not meet the standards set by our organization to protect small producers, maintain safe and quality products and sustainably strengthen California’s diversity of marijuana product and supply.
California Board of Equalization Member Fiona Ma praised the association by stating, “Forty-three states today allow some form of legal cannabis access under state and/or local laws. The Cannabis Business Council will bring states together to help regulate an existing industry and bring them into our tax and banking systems and at the same time generate a tax revenue stream that currently exists in the underground economy.”
U.S. Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), author of several Congressional bills to end marijuana prohibition, noted, “I am happy to see the emergence of the Cannabis Business Council. The expanding legal marijuana industry needs to be able to operate with the same rights and obligations of any other american businesses. This CBC is a major step in the right direction.”
The California Medical Association added, “the California Medical Association (CMA) has recognized that the criminalization of cannabis is a failed public health policy. Based on the growing momentum of medical cannabis decriminalization nationally… there may also be growing public support in several states for decriminalization of the cultivation, transport and use of cannabis.”
The purpose of the Cannabis Business Council is to improve the business conditions in the legal cannabis industry. The Cannabis Business Council was created in part as a response to the 2015 passage of California Assembly Bill 266, Assembly Bill 243, and Senate Bill 643. These poorly drafted bills threaten to eviscerate the California cannabis industry. At a minimum, they will create higher prices, poor-quality products, and squeeze out small businesses for a select few well-connected large producers, limiting diversity of marijuana and product supply. For more information please visit http://www.cannabisbusinesscouncil.com.
For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/10/prweb13003477.htm
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