On June 12–13, cannabis attorneys from around the country will gather at the University of Denver for the annual Cannabis Law Institute hosted by the International Cannabis Bar Association (INCBA) in collaboration with Strategies 64. In a special two-episode series, we spoke with four leading cannabis attorneys who will be featured panelists at the event.

The first episode features conversations with California-based attorneys Lara DeCaro and Shay Aaron Gilmore.

DeCaro, a partner and leader of the Cannabis Law Group at Leland, Parachini, Steinberg, Matzger and Melnick LLP,  discusses her experience as a woman in the cannabis industry. She also talks about the critical role storytelling plays in cannabis policy advocacy.

Gilmore, who runs an independent practice, spoke about his upcoming panel on transitioning from the legacy market to legal cannabis, and the pioneering California activists who fought for medical cannabis access in the 1980s and 1990s and helped get us to where we are today.  

In the second episode, we spoke with Florida-based attorney Zack Kobrin of Saul Ewing LLP and New Mexico-based attorney Victoria Cvitanovic of Ruddick Law Group, PLLC.

The conversation with Cobrin, a transactional and regulatory lawyer, highlights the “undercurrent of specialties” in the cannabis industry and the importance of cannabis policy advocacy and reform. He also explains how companies can make money by balancing a progressive mindset with big-corporate culture, and he talks about what happens when medical-only markets shift to adult-use.

Cvitanovic discusses her time as a prosecutor in a DEA-designated High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area and the many responsibilities entrusted to unelected public officials. She also highlights the important work done by medical cannabis advocates in the 1980s and 1990s and the importance of keeping patients’ perspectives in mind when working on cannabis policy.