The National Cannabis Roundtable (NCR) and U.S. Cannabis Council (USCC) announced a merger, uniting their efforts to represent leading multi-state and single-state cannabis operators, retailers, ancillary businesses and advocacy organizations on Capitol Hill.

The U.S. Cannabis Roundtable, the result of this merger, will serve as a unified voice for the cannabis industry, addressing the newly sworn-in 119th Congress and the incoming Trump administration. This consolidated organization will represent businesses operating in 38 states, as well as a significant portion of the 13,000 retail locations and nearly 450,000 full-time employees within the state-licensed cannabis sector.

"This is a pivotal time for the regulated cannabis industry with a newly elected Congress and an incoming president who has publicly supported and pledged to advance commonsense cannabis reform," said Charlie Bachtell, CEO of Cresco Labs Inc (OTC:CRLBF) and chairperson of both NCR and USCC.

"As the chairman of both groups, I have seen first-hand the incredible talent of each organization and know that the combined group will be the unified authority advocating on behalf of the legal cannabis industry and a resource on all things cannabis for members of the Trump Administration and Congress."

During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump supported a states' rights legislative approach to cannabis, including reclassifying it from Schedule I to Schedule III and backing the SAFE Banking Act — key priorities for NCR and USCC.

NCR and USCC will deploy an advocacy team including former members of Congress and a former Trump senior advisor, among others. The cannabis priorities of the organization and its advocates focus on reform initiatives and will include:

●     Rescheduling cannabis to Schedule III

●     Passing states' rights legislation that allows each state to make its own decision on cannabis policy

●     Enacting cannabis Banking Legislation (the SAFE/SAFER Banking Act)

●     Ending the scenario that allows foreign cannabis companies to list on the NASDAQ and NYSE while prohibiting state-licensed U.S. cannabis companies from doing the same. 

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