So Now California Law Maker will now be taking Drug Money Now? Pot industry poised to become capitol power player

Nearly all the power players showed up at the Citizen Hotel a few months ago, seizing the opportunity to give legislative candidates an early indoctrination into the ways of the Capitol.Bankers, Realtors, doctors, casino operators, labor, alcohol and the insurance industrysponsored the daylong Leadership California Institute session.Oh, and the California Cannabis Industry Association was there, too.“We are happy to report that CCIA was received with open arms,” the organization said in an email to its supporters after the event. “Almost every attendee made an attempt to come speak with us during the day, including the 30+ legislative candidates.”It had to happen. The marijuana business has become a tenant in the Third House, a term for the lobbying industry. In last year’s legislative session, Aaron Read & Associates, perennially one of Sacramento’s top billing firms, added legalization proponents to its client roster, which also includes police unions.Now the California Cannabis Industry Association is seeking to establish itself as a joint trade association-chamber of commerce for the marijuana industry. To add to its air of legitimacy, the group has rented part of Chops, the watering hole across L Street from the Capitol, for a reception for lawmakers on Tuesday night.“Everybody wants to know if we have a PAC,” Nate Bradley, the head of the nascent group, told me.The answer is not yet.But Bradley and his partner, Sean Donahoe, have high hopes, maybe $500,000 for Year One, though they have commitments for far less. They plan to endorse candidates for legislative and local races, including district attorney in Humboldt County (where else?).Californians rejected a marijuana-legalization initiative in 2010. Perennial legislation to gently regulate the existing so-called medical marijuana industry fails. But Colorado and Washington state voters’ decisions to legalize the weed has emboldened promoters of full legalization in California.Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a legalization advocate, has not decided whether to embrace an initiative for this November, but others hope to move forward. In the Legislature, players intend to start up where they ended in 2013, when legislation stalled on the last day of the session.

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