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Chamber of Cannabis Looking Forward to the Coming Year
Despite a year of considerable hardships for the Nevada cannabis industry including a deficit of nearly $115 million in total retail sales from Fiscal Year 2022 to Fiscal Year 2023, the past year was undeniably a red-letter year for the Nevada cannabis industry, or rather a green-letter year. Though it was a busy year for advocates attending nearly endless meetings with both the Cannabis Compliance Board and Las Vegas City Council about every particular regulation of the eventually opening consumption lounges, the licenses for those lounges were finally awarded in 2023. The several cannabis-related conventions in Las Vegas, from the massive MJBizCon to the long-running Champs Trade Show to the inaugural Cannabis Business Times’ Conference and even the Indoor Agriculture Convention, were all very well-attended by cannabis professionals and advocates from across the globe. For The Chamber of Cannabis especially, 2023 was nothing short of a historically monumental year. Along with consistently having at least a handful of members attending every crucial CCB and City Council meeting, the Chamber hosted several important meetings throughout 2023 that featured key Nevada representatives from both sides of the increasingly divided political aisle, such as State Senator Rochelle Nguyen and Assemblywoman Danielle Gallant. The Chamber made sure to utilize and collaborate with supportive businesses, such as hosting a number of memorable events at the elegant and first truly cannabis-friendly hotel, The Lexi. Along with collaborations with local non-profit organizations, the Chamber of Cannabis definitely made cannabis advocacy history for the Silver State in April. On a perfectly warm spring day, the Chamber proudly led a passionate army of 25 dedicated professionals and activists representing all sections of the Nevada cannabis industry and advocacy community up the steps of the Nevada Capitol Building and into important committee meetings and discussions
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BY JOSH KASOFF
with key legislators. The multi-faceted and direct approach to simultaneous advocacy for patients and industry professionals alike proved ultimately successful, as several different cannabisrelated bills were signed into state law by sheriff-turned-Governor Joe Lombardo. These pieces of legislation will almost certainly be beneficial for the once flourishing industry that fell upon difficult times in 2023. “The downward trend in cannabis sales is being felt across the supply chain,” Chamber of Cannabis Secretary Abby Kaufmann recollected, “in addition to the increasingly problematic issue of receivables and collections, we are seeing several national brands leaving Nevada and an increasing number of receiverships.” Into 2024, the Chamber has equally as many groundbreaking plans and actions to continuously strengthen the Nevada cannabis industry into the new era that a doubling of the daily purchasing limits and several other reformative measures usually caters in for a nascent industry. “A lot of our hard work is coming to fruition,” explained Chamber of Cannabis Vice President Dani Baranowski, “so there’s still a sense of optimism. It was so empowering when we went to Carson City and we got to experience firsthand that the legislators might not know everything about cannabis, but they understand its importance, necessity and place. So, there’s less resistance to the concept of the industry. Being part of the legislative process was nothing short of incredible and made us feel cemented in history as the people riding, guiding and directing.” Because the majorly reformative provisions of Senate Bill 277 had taken effect only two weeks ago at the time of writing this article, it’s hard to already determine specifics into how the doubling of daily purchasing limits has