About CCIA
Our Mission
To promote the growth of a responsible and legitimate cannabis industry and work for a favorable social, economic, and legal environment for our industry in the state of California.
The California Cannabis Industry Association was founded on the principle of strength in numbers. The thousands of California businesses involved in our state-legal cannabis industry represent a significant economic force. As the industry's most influential state trade association, CCIA works everyday to ensure our burgeoning business sector is represented in a professional and coordinated way at the state level.
What does CCIA do?
1. State Level Advocacy
The California Cannabis Industry Association (CCIA) was formed to unite the legal cannabis industry to help educate and act as a resource to lawmakers and our members. We are the most influential trade association in the state representing the diverse interests of the cannabis industry: retail, cultivation, manufacturing, delivery, distribution, testing, insurance, packaging, and various ancillary services. Our unified voice includes over 400 California businesses representing over 600 brands and approximately 15,000 employees.
Over the past seven years, CCIA has consistently advocated on behalf of cannabis businesses to advance a comprehensive regulatory framework that achieves important policy objectives encouraging investment and innovation, protecting small businesses, and enhancing public and consumer safety. CCIA will continue to work diligently with the legislature, the Administration, and the licensing authorities on open-market regulations and solutions that foster a robust cannabis industry while prioritizing public safety and health.
2. Local Level Advocacy
California’s roll out of adult use cannabis in 2018 has brought to surface many challenges that need immediate engagement from the industry: lack of local authorization has created the greatest barrier to entry throughout the state. CCIA’s focus is exclusively on the state and local challenges facing our membership. We are dedicating more resources and time to fighting battles in Sacramento and localities across the state in conjunction with local groups.
3. Education
Our educational efforts are broken down into two categories: Industry (members) & regulators/lawmakers.
For our members, we strive to continually update them on the changing landscape in California. We provide weekly legislative updates and general educational updates to all of our members to help them navigate the complex rules and regulations. We also host webinars and in-person educational forums around the state.
For lawmakers and regulators, we tailor our educational outreach to their collective needs. We offer tours of cultivation sites, retail establishments, manufacturing facilities, laboratories and more. We provide access to industry experts so regulators and lawmakers can gain first-hand knowledge of the complexities of running a cannabis business. Part of our educational efforts are centered around direct feedback and input on pending policy changes via our committee comments and formal white papers
