National Cannabis Bar Association Established For Attorneys

 [dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]C[/dropcap]annabis legalization has seen the advent of many new professions, including the not so surprising industry of cannabis lawyers. Those who specialize in cannabis law have now officially organized into a bar association in order to network and better serve their clients.

According to Mercury News, a group of attorneys from the Northern California have launched the National Cannabis Bar Association (NCBA). This is the first group of lawyers to specifically focus on helping businesses with regulations, instead of just defending folks from criminal charges. “As the industry goes from being verboten to being taxed and regulated as commerce, lawyers— like these—come with that,” Allen St. Pierre, current executive director of NORML, told Mercury News.

There is an especially high demand for cannabis lawyers in California, since each city within the state has different regulations on cannabis use, and since so many major edibles companies operate out of the state. Bigger businesses in the state, such as companies from Silicon Valley, are now looking into getting involved in the industry as it becomes more legitimate.

“As more and more states decriminalize or legalize cannabis—and set up their own regulatory structures—the legal conditions cannabis industry clients and their attorneys face are likely to get even more complex before they get simpler,” Shabnam Malek, one of the lawyers who founded the association, told Mercury News. “The NCBA will offer support and advocacy for attorneys working with businesses in this rapidly changing, swiftly emerging industry.”

It is clear that there has never been a better time to get involved with cannabis law, and the fact that these lawyers are becoming organized is just another sign of this industry taking shape and becoming even more legitimate.