Aaron Smith is stepping down as head of the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), leaving a legacy of forging partnerships to advance reform on what was once seen as a marginalized issue that has now become mainstream over the course of his work. Next, he\u2019ll be pursuing another ambitious project: Helping to dissolve broader partisan gridlock that\u2019s endemic in U.S. politics.<\/p>\n
Smith, who got his start in the grassroots advocacy world working with organizations such as the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), has served as the co-founder and executive director of NCIA for the past 15 years. He\u2019s had a front row seat to the rapid evolution of the sector, which he tells Marijuana Moment is now at a pivotal \u201ccrossroads\u201d amid competing interests and challenging politics.<\/p>\n
But while keenly aware that it will take a stepped-up push from all stakeholders to deliver on the small and large goals of the movement\u2014from banking access to ending federal prohibition altogether\u2014Smith says he\u2019s compelled to take on a new role outside of the industry. He\u2019ll be staying on NCIA\u2019s board, but his time as CEO is coming to an end as he seeks to leverage his experience building bridges and affecting change in a different capacity.<\/p>\n
Smith\u2019s message to the industry and advocates? \u201cThis is the time to put the pedal to the metal.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for NCIA, the board will be taking on the outgoing CEO\u2019s functions in the short-term, spearhead by board chair Adam Rosenberg, as the organization rethinks its strategy to deliver for businesses and consumers alike at this inflection point in state and federal marijuana policy.<\/p>\n
Smith is \u201cconfident\u201d the board and the association\u2019s leadership are more than up to the task as he departs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really don\u2019t think there are members of the NCIA out there that joined because of me personally. It\u2019s always been about the institution, which is run by the members,\u201d he said. \u201cThe members select the board. The board is leading the organization. And I\u2019m confident that the organization is in good hands.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that he\u2019d \u201creally look forward to just seeing continued engagement from the industry,\u201d emphasizing \u201cthe need to invest in these reforms.\u201d As he put it, while there are economic pain points for the sector that might limit operators\u2019 ability to aggressively put dollars toward any particular legislation or issue, those cannabis businesses out there that aren\u2019t at least trying to support basic much-needed reforms are sitting idle at their own peril.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re part of a cannabis industry, you\u2019re part of a social movement\u2014and the movement is not done yet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Marijuana Moment spoke to Smith ahead of his departure, scheduled for August 15, discussing his experience with NCIA, remaining challenges within the industry and the future of cannabis policy. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n
Aaron Smith: It was a very different time. I mean, it was a time that the industry and the advocacy communities\u00a0 were essentially one and the same. But we perceived that the industry was beginning to grow beyond that core group, and that\u2019s when we made the decision to start NCIA\u2014we being Steve Fox and myself.<\/p>\n
And so the transition was sort of seamless and very logical at the time. It just made sense. It was a natural evolution.<\/p>\n
A lot of it was a messaging shift\u2014from talking about the issue just from this sort of broader \u2018doing what\u2019s right for the country\u2019 agenda that we had, to just the nuts and bolts of what it takes to run a business and talking about things like taxes and banking and those sort of practical issues.<\/p>\n
AS: I do. Because I think policy needs to be balanced to ensure it\u2019s serving the interests of all the constituencies.<\/p>\n
Of course, I\u2019m representing the business community\u2014but it\u2019s very important that consumers have a stake, and that public health and other interests have a stake, in driving policy reform forward.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m also concerned because the industry\u2019s resources seem to be quite limited. And there are those concerned that, as the philanthropic [funding] has kind of moved away, thinking the industry would pick up the slack, the industry hasn\u2019t really been able to. And while the industry is putting in a significant investment\u2014I\u2019m not saying it\u2019s insignificant\u2014we\u2019re not where we should be in terms of the kind of money that you see behind an effort to get this thing over the finish line.<\/p>\n
AS: I know we\u2019re in sort of a catch-22, because a lot of it changes on federal reform\u2014putting 280E [the IRS code blocking marijuana businesses from taking federal tax deductions] in the rearview mirror would make a whole lot of difference in our ability to invest in policy. But of course, that\u2019s not going to happen unless we invest more in policy reform.<\/p>\n
But I think that a lot of this, at least when speaking to the industry, comes down to the individual level, where every single person who\u2019s invested in the cannabis industry\u2014whether they\u2019re starting their own business or they\u2019re an investor in another part of the industry\u2014needs to be invested in cannabis reform.<\/p>\n
Otherwise it\u2019s frankly foolish to even get involved, because this industry is in a precarious position. Its success hinges upon the success of organizations like ours that are driving reform forward. And to bet your life savings on a cannabis business without putting anything into cannabis reform is just, frankly, foolish. And unfortunately, the vast majority of businesses in the space, that\u2019s exactly the approach they\u2019ve taken.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s challenging for me, and I would say, even if for whatever reason these businesses aren\u2019t looking to join NCIA, they should be contributing to another organization or doing something, because doing nothing is essentially guaranteeing the demise of the industry. I feel like we\u2019re at crossroads right there, right now. This is the time to put the pedal to the metal.<\/p>\n
AS: In the short-run, [NCIA is transitioning] the leadership authority to the board as a whole, under the direction of Adam Rosenberg, who\u2019s our board chair\u2014effectively as an acting CEO. But really he\u2019s just going to continue being the chair. The board\u2019s going to to take over the leadership role that was under the CEO. But as part of that, the board\u2019s also promoting our chief strategy officer, Brooke Gilbert to the COO position to handle day-to-day operations, staff management and keeping the trains running on time, so to speak. And Brooke has been well-known. She\u2019s been at the organization for 12 years, is well-known by the members and has been a kind of the driving force behind the scenes for a long time.<\/p>\n
My role has been CEO, but a lot of my role has also been the COO sort of function, too, so the board decided to bifurcate it that way, and that\u2019s in the short-run. In the long-run, over the coming months or however long it takes the board\u2014I plan on staying on the board. I\u2019m currently a board member and the CEO, so I\u2019m resigning as CEO, and at the board\u2019s invitation, will be remaining on the board for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n
Then in the long-run, [NCIA will be] reevaluating everything about the organization and evaluating the needs for what\u2019s the best CEO for this membership, for this organization\u2014the best attributes and qualities that it would take to bring the organization to the next level, and then conducting a thorough national search. I can\u2019t really give you a timeline on when it\u2019s going to be complete, but it\u2019s starting effectively now.<\/p>\n
And I think, though, in the interim, the interim leadership is strong. You have staff who\u2019ve been here for years and years, and then a board that\u2019s very engaged and energized about the organization. It made it easier. It made it easier for me to step out of my role knowing\u2014just you know how great this board is right now, and that you know how engaged they are.<\/p>\n
AS: I think there\u2019s a lot on the table still. I think federal rescheduling is probably the best bet because it\u2019s something that the president can do with the stroke of a pen and he\u2019s already stated strong support for federal rescheduling and even beyond that. Just today we got a new DEA administrator in place. So I don\u2019t think we\u2019re going to see this happen tomorrow, but I think there\u2019s a real good chance that this could happen by the end of the year.<\/p>\n
Then beyond that,\u00a0 I think [rescheduling] alone would send a signal to Congress that the administration is behind reform. It would make a lot easier to get reforms like the SAFE Banking Act through and other incremental types of reforms.<\/p>\n
Then, going into longer term, after that NCIA will be advocating for the legacy operators. While rescheduling to Schedule III will fix 280E for everybody going forward, you have thousands of businesses that have been saddled with the staff tax debt and that needs to be resolved. That\u2019s something that NCIA will be making a priority in the nearest of time.<\/p>\n
AS: I think that one of my favorite things has always been our annual fly-in lobby days\u2014seeing that grow and change over the years. It\u2019s always been my favorite time of year at a lot of levels, because it\u2019s a great time to really engage with our membership in a deeper way than we do at, let\u2019s say, a regular event where we\u2019re just kind of networking and hanging out for two hours. It\u2019s a two-day working experience. But it\u2019s also just a great way to gauge the temperature of Congress. And when I started this, just getting meetings with a member of Congress was really, really hard\u2014and then if you got that meeting, it was like just jokes and poking fun and eye rolls the whole time.<\/p>\n
Most of the time today, fast forward, I shouldn\u2019t say we might have the majority of the House on board with legalization, but if we don\u2019t, we\u2019re very close to it and the industry is taken very seriously, even by those who oppose us. It\u2019s really just a great opportunity to kind of see everything on display and connect the members, and I hope to contribute, or I hope to participate, just as a board member next year and knowing to the future,<\/p>\n
AS: We\u2019ve had some great champions over the years. One of the great memorable moments that comes to mind is just meeting with [Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)] on this issue over the long period of his history\u2014from getting to the point where his office ready to talk to us to where he was open to at least hemp reform. We had a fundraiser that I think you guys reported on. We were trying to keep it secret, but it was leaked. You guys picked it up years ago, but at a golf club in Orange County.<\/p>\n
It was great experience, because it gave me some real perspective for him as well. He was very kind of professorial and giving us his whole spiel on what the role of the Senate is from his perspective and at the same time, hearing all of these stories from the cannabis industry. It was clear that was far from the first time that he\u2019d heard that. It was just very powerful, because he talked about 280E and banking, so somebody who\u2019s in a position of authority and that level of authority at that particular time in the industry was pivotal.<\/p>\n
AS: I\u2019m taking on a role as political director in an organization called Unite America. They work on structural electoral reforms aimed at reducing political polarization and improving functioning government\u2014 so things like open primaries, ranked choice-related voting, independent redistricting reform.<\/p>\n
As it intersects, anybody who\u2019s looked at this issue can see this incredible progress that cannabis has made over at the state level, usually at the ballot box\u2014but we\u2019re all frustrated because Congress can\u2019t seem to get even the most incremental, modest reform such as the SAFE Banking Act across the finish line. And that\u2019s because the political polarization and the incentives within our system reward gridlock and punish members of Congress who reach across the aisle to try to find solutions.<\/p>\n
This is an area I\u2019ve been following kind of since January 6, I guess I could say. I followed this organization and that issue as sort of a systemic solution to many of the nation\u2019s problems, including cannabis reform. And you could look at the SAFE Banking Act a few years ago, where we had Democratic trifecta across government, we all thought we were going to get this thing passed, and you all of a sudden had [then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NY)] talking about, you know, laying down on the tracks and not letting this thing pass unless we can insert all of these social justice provisions, which then turned off the Republicans, dragged the process on past Christmas and it never happened.<\/p>\n
That little kind of anecdote that I think everybody in this industry has been following remembers is the primary problem, and it\u2019s because Chuck Schumer is concerned about getting primaried from the left, and so he\u2019s got to pander to that part of the his constituency, rather than the state of New York, which overwhelmingly would like to see him get progress on SAFE Banking rather than just grandstanding on issues that, while I support some of those issues, they\u2019re still sort of niche left wing issues.<\/p>\n
So it\u2019s really about trying to get more elected officials in place that are more willing to compromise and achieve progress on this issue and many, many others.<\/p>\n
The post The Leader Of The National Cannabis Industry Association Is Stepping Down, 15 Years After Launching The Group<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Aaron Smith is stepping down as head of the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), leaving a legacy of forging partnerships to advance reform on what was once seen as a marginalized issue that has now become mainstream over the course of his work. Next, he\u2019ll be pursuing another ambitious project:Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82386"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82386"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82387,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82386\/revisions\/82387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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