Industry and Trade Associations: Cannabis Business

Please see attached word doc for topic and my personal thought on this essay

Essay Topic:

Please prepare a practical, managerially-useful report to your real or fictional boss regarding what you learned：

Discuss the role industry and trade associations and issue-specific coalitions play in helping companies effectively advocate positions at the federal level. Include consideration of their strengths and limitations, including when they are more useful and less useful, and make recommendations to your real or fictional boss about how your company can best make use of relevant association(s) and coalitions.

Below is my personal thought on this essay, you can follow this workflow.

Assuming I work in a cannabis Business. The attitudes to cannabis around the world seem to be opening up, but before totally legalizing cannabis, the government has to think about how to balance regulation with outright prohibition. And this is what’s happening in the US. The US still has a lot of trade and financial restrictions & regulations on marijuana.

In my point of view, the theme of this essay is:

From the perspective of the company, how to use the influence of the trade associations and business coalition to affect and lobby the government to make policy on the cannabis industry. And what are the pros and cons when join a trade association and business coalition that related to cannabis industry. And when they are useful and less useful.

In this case, I would like to focus on the point of “access to banking services”, and “fair taxation” because of

1. continuing federal prohibition, many banks are reluctant to work with cannabis businesses out of fear of being prosecuted under money laundering laws. However, easing the financial restrictions of the cannabis industry would actually be good for economy,

a)     Creates jobs and more tax revenue.

1. Fair Taxation: Cannabis businesses pay more taxes than other industries, and businesses that pay by the rules should not be subject to excessive financial burdens, a fair taxation policy toward cannabis industry is beneficial to the society as well.

a)     Limit black market and smuggling.

b)     Reduce crime rate that caused by black market and smuggling. 

As a small business, we are not powerful enough to influence government, thus, its necessary to join a trade association and issue-specific coalitions to lobby and negotiate with government because there is strength in Numbers.

In this case,

For access to banking service: I think its necessary to keep in touch with American Bankers Association (https://www.aba.com/) and build good rapport with them, because

1. ABA is a Washington, D.C.-based trade association for the U.S. banking industry
2. The association represents banks of all sizes and charters, including community banks, regional and money center banks, savings associations, mutual savings banks, and trust companies.

For fair taxation purpose, I think its good to join Americans For Fair Taxation (AFFT) (https://www.fairtax.org/)

1. It’s a U.S. political advocacy group that is dedicated to fundamental tax code replacement.
2. The organization claims it is the largest, single-issue grassroots taxpayers union in the United States.

Most important one:

In addition to above association, we have to join NCIA(The National Cannabis Industry Association) NCIA | Advocating for the Responsible Cannabis Industry (thecannabisindustry.org)

1. Most powerful cannabis industry coalition in the US
2. Coalition aims to promote the growth of a responsible and legitimate cannabis industry and work for a favorable social, economic, and legal environment for that industry in the United States.

Then we can talk about the pros and cons (strengths and limitations) and more useful and less useful.

I have some idea about this,

For the Pros.

1. Enhance our industry's public image, promote best practices and standards, and improve products and technologies.
2. takes advantage of external resources to expand the impact of organization’s lobbying efforts.
3. a critical resource to expand their knowledge and influence on an issue
4. Trade associations bring legislative and regulatory experience, in-depth policy knowledge, and the influence of a sizeable membership to the conversation on your issue.
5. Chapter 5. Choosing Strategies to Promote Community Health and Development | Section 5. Coalition Building I: Starting a Coalition | Main Section | Community Tool Box (ku.edu) 

For the cons,

1. Advantages and Disadvantages of Working in Coalitions (worldanimal.net)
2. Chapter 5. Choosing Strategies to Promote Community Health and Development | Section 5. Coalition Building I: Starting a Coalition | Main Section | Community Tool Box (ku.edu)

Given those pros and cons, we could find and write about when coalition and association are more useful and less useful.

The final step will be how your company can best make use of relevant association(s) and coalitions. For this part, I think you can just summarize the content above, and come up with a conclusion.

A rational structure for the essay should be:

Industry briefing (10%)

Details about coalition and association and how are they benefit to our cannabis business (35%)

pros and cons (strengths and limitations) and more useful and less useful of coalition and association (45%)

how your company can best make use of relevant association(s) and coalitions.(10%)

I am just giving a direction, please help me complete this with more details. This essay is more about personal perspective. Please keep citations as few as possible.