Cannabis commerce remains very challenging due to the federal Schedule 1 status of cannabis. Maintaining merchant services, advertising restrictions along with accessing loans and other banking services make scaling cannabis companies entirely too challenging. The Global Alliance for Cannabis Commerce intends to hit the very heart of the problem on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. In the new legislation being written by the Alliance, issues such as medical marijuana patient advocacy, the social injustice of cannabis misdemeanor convictions and education will also be addressed.
A new national advocacy organization has launched in Los Angeles to advocate and educate lawmakers on the path towards federal cannabis legalization. Mr. Jason Beck, a longtime Angeleno who was born with cerebral palsy and an early medical cannabis patient, spearheaded the creation of the new organization. The Global Alliance for Cannabis Commerce (GACC) will focus on legislation including, cultivation, manufacture, distribution, public safety, and taxation of medical and adult-use cannabis.
The GACC also recently released the first comprehensive model federal cannabis legislation, which includes the interests of multiple stakeholders: patients, industry, public policy officials, public safety officials, and communities adversely affected by prior laws and policies.
GACC’s model policies also creates a two-track framework for the Food and Drug Administration and Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to safely control the cultivation, manufacture, and distribution of cannabis products in and between legal states. Objectives include, providing patients with safe access, eliminating impediments to U.S. investments, providing guidance for investment in communities harmed by cannabis prohibition, the education of law enforcement, and the expungement of criminal records for misdemeanor cannabis offenses. GACC will also advocate in Washington on issues important to Los Angeles-based cannabis businesses, including interstate and international trade and adopting critical mechanisms to expand LA’s cannabis industry into new markets.
Mr. Beck has been a dispensary owner since 2001, starting in San Francisco and opening one of the first dispensaries in West Hollywood. He served as the industry point person for Congressman Dana Rohrabacher on cannabis policy and legislation and on San Francisco’s Medical Cannabis Task Force under District Attorney Terence Hallinan. In West Hollywood, Mr. Beck worked with city officials in developing cannabis permitting legislation. He met Randall Meyer, then a senatorial aide to Rand Paul and a prior lobbyist and criminal reform attorney, during his advocacy work in Washington and the two stayed in touch discussing potential federal cannabis policy.
Read more at LAWeekly.com.