"...A group of recreational producers, processors and retailers are lining up behind the Rivers proposal. Organized as the Washington Cannabusiness Association (WACA) it has a seasoned lobbyist, Vicki Christophersen, as its executive director.
As with any regulated industry, she said, 'there needs to be consistency in application across the state.'
And, she added later, 'I think there are a lot of folks that are in the medical system right now that want to be regulated.'
After last year’s attempted overhaul failed in the Legislature, Christophersen said she brought the idea of an industry group to recreational-marijuana entrepreneurs.
'I went to them and said, ‘We need a trade association,’ ' said Christophersen, whose other current clients include the Association of Washington Spirits and Wine Distributors and Washington State University. 'We need to be just like the restaurant association or the hospital association. We need to have a professional organization that can have a credible voice.'
And that’s how WACA, which now has 42 industry members — growers, processors, retail stores and one testing lab — is operating. WACA has focused its arguments, testified in legislative hearings and even donated to lawmakers’ campaigns last election cycle."