Pubdate: Sun, 28 Dec 2014
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2014 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Joey Bunch

COLORADO POT LOBBY GAINS CLOUT ON KEY ISSUES AS LAWMAKERS LISTEN

Colorado's Department of Public Health and Environment surprised the 
marijuana industry in October by proposing a ban on candy, brownies 
and other edibles and drinks infused with cannabis.

Edibles accounted for a surprising 45 percent of marijuana sales and 
a majority of the regulatory headaches in the state's first year of 
legal recreational pot. Within hours, the growing rapid-response 
marijuana lobby swooped in and beat back the proposed ban.

"For the year 2014, edibles has been the most difficult issue for the 
industry," said Michael Elliott, executive director of the powerful 
Colorado lobbying outfit Marijuana Industry Group. "And largely we've 
solved it."

With hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, it's not surprising 
that the cannabis lobbying industry is growing almost as fast as the plants.

Nine years ago, it wasn't that way, although Colorado voters had 
passed medical marijuana in 2000. Back then Brian Vicente of Sensible 
Colorado and Mason Tvert of Safer Alternative For Enjoyable 
Recreation were the most distinct voices on the issue to legalize and 
regulate marijuana.

"For the first few years in Colorado, people would refer to me as 
'The Marijuana Guy,' " said Tvert, now spokesman for the national 
Marijuana Policy Project, which advocates for legalization and fair 
regulation in other states. "And now you go to a meeting and there 
are dozens of marijuana guys and gals."

Tvert's initial campaign was to show marijuana was safer than alcohol 
and shouldn't be held to a higher standard of regulation or 
prosecution. In the Colorado Capitol, lobbyists for pot now match 
those for the much older, better-financed alcohol industry.

The pot industry directly employed 26 lobbyists who were collectively 
paid about $331,000 during the past legislative session, according to 
state reports.

An additional 34 lobbyists were employed by groups that had a stake 
in the issue, such as local governments, law enforcement, drug 
treatment facilities and schools.

By comparison, in the last session, a failed bill would have allowed 
local governments to extend closing times for alcohol sales beyond 2 
a.m. There were 57 lobbyists supporting, opposing or monitoring the 
bill, according to state records.

In 2013, when a bill proposed allowing grocery stores to sell 
full-strength beer, there were 40 lobbyists working on the issue, 
which eventually failed.

Spending on alcohol lobbying is difficult to calculate in Colorado, 
because it overlaps with many other issues a lobbyist might be paid 
for, according to the secretary of state's office. But nationally in 
2014, the beer, wine and liquor industry spent at least $18.3 million 
on 231 lobbyists, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The public-interest site doesn't calculate the pot industry's overall 
lobbying efforts but notes that the Marijuana Policy Project spent 
more than $1 million on lobbying nationwide in 2013, and the pro-pot 
Drug Policy Alliance spent an additional $520,000.

Creating pot credit union

Addressing edibles is far from the only regulatory tangle for the 
growing industry. In November, the state issued a charter to the 
first credit union to serve marijuana businesses, the governor's 
office said the state had gone to "the end of the line" in what it 
could do to provide banking for a booming new industry.

Lobbyists for the state's pot industry helped push through a bill to 
create a state credit union for their clients during just seven days 
at the end of the last legislative session. Big banks won't do 
business with pot growers, sellers and buyers, because marijuana 
still violates federal law.

Because the credit union still needs the blessing of federal 
regulators, backers can only hope to have the political muscle in 
Washington they enjoy in Colorado.

"I think the good players, the people who are concerned about the 
state and seeing a big industry run the right way, who have a sincere 
concern about public safety, we've certainly found that at the end of 
the day people are listening," said Josh Hanfling, a proposed board 
member for the credit union and a well-connected lobbyist for 
marijuana seller Invita Wellness.

Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver, said the pro-pot lobby hasn't gotten 
everything it wants, but it's taken advantage of the opportunity to 
provide valuable information about how the industry works and the 
affects and costs of proposed rules.

"I think we're doing it right," Steadman said. "I think the industry 
has the right amount of voice, and the legislature is taking a 
thoughtful approach to what's in the best interest of the industry 
and what's in the best interest of the state."

Colorado voters passed a constitutional amendment in 2012 to legalize 
recreational marijuana. In the 2013 legislative session there were 21 bills.

After sales began Jan. 1, lawmakers considered 30 separate pieces of 
pot-related legislation, tackling issues from banking to regulating 
edibles to limiting civil liability in marijuana agritourism and 
using pot revenue to fix flood-damaged schools.

Lawmakers will wrangle with just as many issues in this session, 
including whether medical marijuana licenses should be taxed or 
regulated differently, how many plants caregivers can grow, fire 
safety procedures where pot is grown under lamps indoors and various 
attempts to snag a share of tax revenue.

Elliott said the amount of legislation reflects the aspects of the 
industry that either didn't exist before or weren't regulated in Colorado.

Elliott's organization was formed by dispensaries in 2010 to help 
guide the rules that govern them.

"Before you had law enforcement controlling the discussions, and 
their only goal was to the do away with the industry," he said. "No 
industry can survive like that."

The dispensaries stepped up after the federal government said it 
wouldn't crack down on them if they could demonstrate they were 
following all state laws. At the time, hardly any state laws existed, 
which could have proven problematic for the dispensaries, Elliott said.

As a result, the state excluded felons from gaining pot business 
licenses and required background checks and financial disclosures, 
among other measures.

Most bills have gotten bipartisan support. While it's perceived that 
Democrats favor the industry and Republicans resist, Elliott said 
plenty of Republicans want to see the industry operated the right way.

"The principles of the Republican Party are very much in line with 
this movement," Elliott said. "When you hear the Republicans talk, 
it's 'Get the federal government out of our way, states rights, 
individual freedom, small business.' Those are the purported 
principles of the Republican Party, and all that is right in line 
with what we're doing here."

A Pew Research poll last year indicated 49 percent of Democrats 
nationwide support marijuana legalization, compared with 32 percent 
of Republicans.

Diverse lobby

The pot lobby might represent a broader diversity of interests and 
backgrounds than any another other industry in the Capitol.

Hanfling, for example, is one of Colorado's best-connected lobbyists. 
Hanfling worked at a "high level" on Hickenlooper's run for mayor and 
governor. His lobbying firm partner, R.D. Sewald, was Hickenlooper's 
director of legislative services and liaison to the City Council.

Hanfling's other lobbying clients include the city of Glendale, 
Walmart, Land Rover, CenturyLink and the Colorado Outdoor Advertising 
Association.

"They come from everywhere," said Amanda Reiman, manager of marijuana 
law and policy for the national Drug Policy Alliance.

"Some come from backgrounds working on the environment, medicinal, 
social justice, ACLU and criminal justice.

"Then you have a set who are interested in being a part of a 
burgeoning issue, just like the people who got into the tech boom."

Reiman holds the influential position of identifying and forming 
strategy around policies on pot that are argued in political circles 
across the country. She has a background in social work.

The dissertation for her doctorate from the University of California 
dealt with how medical marijuana dispensaries provide health 
services. "I thought if I did the research and proved the question, 
policy would follow," she said. "I was naive."

The experience sparked her into advocacy around data.

"The key role of lobbyists in the marijuana industry is as educators, 
(or) translators," she said. "It's a new thing in a lot of places, 
and there's definitely a need for translation.

"It's not always about getting what you want, but it's about helping 
people understand what's at stake and broader implications."

Gina Carbone, a former Washington, D.C., lobbyist and a founding 
member of Smart Colorado, said her group doesn't take a stand for or 
against legalization but works on issues related to the health and 
safety of youths in light of legal marijuana. Smart Colorado has 
pushed the issue of making edibles more distinct to prevent 
accidental ingestion.

Smart Colorado's proponents often are parents and community leaders 
who take time off from work to go to the statehouse to face off 
against experienced, well-paid advocates on the other side, she said.

"They're powerful, and they can put in a lot of money. We're seeing 
that," Carbone said of the professional pot lobbyists she faces. 
"Does that stand up to parents concerned about pot shops going in in 
their neighborhood?"

Future fights

Sam Kamin, a law professor and director of the Constitutional Rights 
and Remedies Program at the University of Denver, isn't at all 
surprised by the manpower and lobbying around pot.

Big industries with a lot of money to gain or lose always field 
lobbyists. With Colorado as one of the first states to wade into 
regulating marijuana, those interested in the outcome come from 
outside the state's borders, as well.

Other states that legalize marijuana will look to Colorado for their 
regulatory boilerplate, Kamin said.

"The stakes are high, and Colorado is the first place in the country 
figuring out how to do this," he said. "Being on the forefront 
nationally has a lot of the focus here."

In the session that begins Jan. 7, legislators will decide how to use 
the revenue that's flowing in. Lawmakers will have to decide whether 
to r efund an estimated $30 million to taxpayers, as would be 
required by the state's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, or invest it in 
programs or construction.

A working group made up of industry officials and those concerned 
about marijuana edibles adjourned last month without any consensus 
about potential regulations to make them distinguishable from candy, 
cookies or drinks that aren't laced with pot.

That political football is punted back to the legislature now.

Steadman and lobbyists also expect changes to requirements for 
medical marijuana licenses, because the original rules have a sunset

Hanfling said the stigma of marijuana has fallen away in Colorado in 
the past few years.

"People are finding out that the people who are running the shops and 
working in the grow operations are their neighbors, who, like people 
in any business, want to see it succeed," he said. "Some of the 
nonprofits I work with, a year ago, they would have never wanted to 
get pot money. That's changing.

"I hope five years from now we're talking about pot just like we'd 
talk about any other business."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom