PRESS RLEASE
For Immediate Release
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Denver Relief Consulting
Kayvan Khalatbari, co-owner
Hashing Out the Issues
Denver Relief Consulting On East Coast Tour
DENVER - Denver Relief Consulting (DRC) will embark on a medical marijuana advocacy tour of the East Coast on June 5 where several states stand at the brink of historic legalization and implementation efforts, while Congress grapples with cannabis reform.
The Denver-based consulting firm hopes that Washington, D.C., Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts and Vermont enact laws and regulations that implement a robust medical marijuana marketplace, similar to the lauded system in Colorado.
Washington, D.C., Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont already allow medical marijuana. D.C. allows sales at medical marijuana centers and Vermont is expected to follow suit. Connecticut and Massachusetts are working out the details of their dispensary programs. New York is currently considering legislation to legalize medical marijuana.
DRC played a role in Colorado overseeing the framework for the state’s medical marijuana rules and regulations, which became the basis for recently enacted legislation creating a legalized recreational marijuana industry in the state. The firm hopes to bring its expertise to the East Coast, offering input on how states can serve the critical needs of patients, while balancing public safety, training and education.
In anticipation of a regulated medical marijuana marketplace in Massachusetts, DRC has offered testimony to the Department of Public Health (DPH). It will also offer comments at a DPH meeting later this month in Boston. That testimony is expected to also impact how Vermont establishes its industry. The consultants have also provided written testimony in Connecticut, as well as public comment. DRC is currently working on recommendations for Connecticut officials.
“We expect to help create additional regulatory models using methodologies we’ve created over the past four years to further the mission of both medical and social cannabis sales,” explained Ean Seeb, co-owner of DRC. “States don’t have to do this alone; the trail has already been blazed. By drawing upon formulas that work, states and the industry itself can find themselves in a much better position.”
Lobbying the Capitol
DRC will join dozens of marijuana business leaders in Washington, D.C. on June 5 to take part in a two-day lobbying blitz being organized by the National Cannabis Industry Association, of which Seeb is vice-chairman of the board of directors.
Seeb and his business partner, Kayvan Khalatbari, know all too well the struggles faced by those in the industry, including a lack of access to financial services, unjust application of tax provisions and ongoing interference from the federal government. The two business partners also co-own Denver Relief, one of Colorado’s first medical marijuana centers.
Joining the event will be U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., and Jared Polis, D-Colo. The lawmakers will discuss federal prohibition of state-authorized marijuana businesses from taking standard business deductions when computing federal taxes. DRC and its clients have paid as much as three times the effective tax rate.
“Cannabis is poised to become the next big industry in the United States and around the world. We are headed to Washington with a unified message to legislators: Treat us as you would any other business,” commented Seeb.
Educating stakeholders
DRC recommends that investors looking to get involved in the burgeoning industry on the East Cost should attend MMJ Business Daily’s seminar on June 11 from 1-7 p.m. at the White Box at 329 Broome St. in New York City. Seeb will be speaking at the event.
The event comes after Khalatbari and Seeb were featured speakers atthe Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries symposium on April 24 in Toronto, Canada. DRC is helping to educate Canadians on the emergence of its private medical marijuana market after the government there opened the market up to individual companies.
“We are the best suited to assist people,” explained Khalatbari. “We have the real-life experience to help people who are looking to get involved in this budding industry, and we couldn’t be happier to assist with an established marijuana marketplace across the nation and world.”
About Denver Relief Consulting
What started as Denver Relief, one of Colorado’s first and most successful medical marijuana centers located at 1 Broadway, has blossomed into a consulting firm for all things cannabis. Denver Relief Consulting draws upon an extensive business model that includes everything from cultivation to sale. By connecting current and future business owners with a wealth of resources, and a formula for sustaining a marijuana business in a maze of regulatory and business uncertainty, clients are able to forge on with their plans without the fear and anxiety that can be associated with the marijuana industry. For more information, visit DenverReliefConsulting.com, or call 303-420-PLAN.
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