Wisconsin’s Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association (ICIA) will host its annual Indigenous Cannabis Industry & Policy Summit in the nation’s capital this year as it continues its mission to build an equitable Native cannabis industry through policy reform.
This year will be its fourth summit, and the first time ICIA will take it outside of Wisconsin. The organization has been spreading its reach around the country, like its fundraising golf tournament this past May in Washington state. Its goal has been to take the summit nationally as ICIA has progressively increased its reach with tribes around the United States.
“As little as four years ago, not understanding what tribes are doing on a national scale … Everyone was operating in a vacuum, and it was really to sort of clear the air and figure out where everyone was at,” said Rob Pero, founder of ICIA. “Now, four years later, it’s not just a policy summit. It’s an industry summit because we have over 100 nations.”
The organization has now touched nearly a quarter of the 574 tribal nations across 22 states. That growth and figuring out what tribes are doing in regard to cannabis has led to the creation of the first Tribal Cannabis and Hemp Programs Map.
The map is being used to show how the industry has grown, with the first congregate, comprehensive look at where and how many tribal cannabis and hemp programs there are.
“It’s a critical year again for not just Indian Country, but also the cannabis industry in general, with saturated markets, black markets, with fentanyl laced cannabis in markets like Wisconsin, where we have hemp-derived cannabinoids,” Pero said. “Not everyone is doing things the way they should. So the goal is to level up and lift everyone up along the way by providing resources that we’ve sort of built into our tool chest to help tribes and native-owned businesses.”
In discussions at the Cannabis Industry & Policy Summit, cannabis is grounded as a plant medicine first. The ICIA has generally moved its advocating efforts from broad reform to at least meet in the middle ground medically. Its joint public awareness campaign with the Wisconsin Tribal Taskforce on Cannabis — Wisconsin Wellness — embodies its stance as a medicine first.
However, ICIA still pushes to bring tribes across the country to discuss what Indian Country can do in the industry through sovereign leverage. Present at the summit will be tribal leaders, doctors, judges, scientists, businesses in Indigenous cannabis, regulators and more across its three days.
Sessions will speak on the status of the industry, opportunities, financing, technology, commerce, trade, and an update on ongoing litigation for Indigenous cannabis efforts and supply chains.
The Indigenous Cannabis Industry & Policy Summit will be hosted Nov. 11-13 at the 507 8th St. S.E., in Washington D.C. A full agenda and tickets can be found online.
