Pot industry plants seeds on Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON — The legal weed industry is trying to grow something else these days: political influence.

The National Cannabis Industry Association has spent $60,000 lobbying Congress and federal regulators during the first nine months of this year — double its lobbying expenses for all of 2013. Its political action committee also shelled out campaign money to help politicians in tough midterm races, including Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado, where voters in 2012 approved the recreational use of marijuana.

And in another sign of pot's growing legitimacy, the group held its first business summit and trade show earlier this year in Denver. And every April, its members — ranging from growers to dispensary owners — descend on Washington to lobby lawmakers and their aides.

"Just like any other business sector in the country, we have a vested interest in ensuring that federal policy is favorable to business conditions for these small-business owners and job creators," said Aaron Smith, the group's executive director.

The trade group, launched in 2010, has grown from about two dozen members to more than 800 as marijuana legalization has spread. Medical marijuana is legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia. Voters also have endorsed its recreational use in the nation's capital and four states: Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon.

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Among the trade group's top goals: Removing pot from the federal list of prohibited controlled substances and letting states regulate its sale and use.

The marijuana industry is making gains in Congress. Earlier this year, a bipartisan coalition in the Republican-controlled House voted 219-189 to bar federal law-enforcement raids on medical marijuana operations. It never became law, but Smith said the vote is one sign of changing attitudes.

"We're seeing this real surge of support because members are reading the polls in their districts and seeing the writing on the wall," he said.

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