Geoffrey Lawrence
Research Director, Reason Foundation
Geoffrey Lawrence is research director at Reason Foundation.
Lawrence has been a financial executive in both the public and private sectors and has served as chief financial officer of publicly traded, growth stage, and startup manufacturing and distribution companies. He was CFO of Players Network, the first fully reporting, publicly traded marijuana licensee to be listed on a U.S. exchange, CFO of C Quadrant, a startup manufacturer and distributor that was subsequently sold to Lowell Farms (LOWL), CFO of Apex Extractions, a manufacturer and distributor based in Oakland that he helped take public, and, most recently, CFO of Claybourne Co., a top-3 flower brand in California by market share. Through these roles, Lawrence raised capital, planned capital expenditure, prepared financial forecasts, implemented systems for accounting and inventory control, designed internal control processes, managed monthly and quarterly closings and reporting, managed compliance with state and local regulations, negotiated contracts, and prepared filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Lawrence also served as a senior appointee to the Nevada Controller’s Office, where he oversaw the state’s external financial reporting. Prior to joining Reason Foundation in 2018, Lawrence had also spent a decade as a policy analyst on labor, fiscal, and energy issues between North Carolina’s John Locke Foundation and the Nevada Policy Research Institute.
Lawrence is additionally the founder and president of an accounting and advisory firm with particular expertise in the licensed cannabis industry and public markets.
Lawrence holds an M.S. and B.S. in accounting from Western Governors University, an M.A. in international economics from American University, and a B.A. in international relations from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. He lives in Las Vegas with his wife and two children and enjoys baseball and mixed martial arts.
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Americans Need More COVID-19 Data, Not Rules, From Government
Overwhelmingly, Americans make rational and community-minded choices. What they need from the government is public health data to help inform those choices.
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The SAFE Banking Act Fails to Ease Challenges Facing Marijuana Businesses and Banks
The SAFE Banking Act, included in the latest round of federal stimulus spending, neglects to address steep compliance costs that confront banks that service marijuana businesses.
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Economic Shutdowns Pose Serious Risk to Human Welfare Across the Globe
A global collapse in economic production could expose untold millions of people to conditions of extreme poverty.
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Examining COVID-19 Shutdowns and Economic Tipping Points As Unemployment Skyrockets and Supply Chains Are Broken
At some point, the shutdowns won’t be temporary because supply chains will be broken and businesses will be permanently destroyed.
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Be Worried About the Economic Costs COVID-19 and Shutdowns Are Having on Workers and Small Businesses
It’s very plausible that the coronavirus pandemic could trigger a global depression.
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Governments Eliminate Burdensome Marijuana Regulations in Response to Coronavirus Crisis
Regulators have quickly enacted some changes that make it easier for medical patients and recreational consumers alike to purchase marijuana without coming into close contact with large groups of people.
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Illinois’ Legal Marijuana Shortage Will Continue Until Original Legislation Is Fixed
Since the state legislature chose to specify many details into statute rather than through rule-making, it will take additional legislative action to make the necessary corrections.
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Detroit Continues to Drag Its Feet on Legalized Marijuana
The Detroit City Council should lean heavily on the already extensive regulation developed by state authorities and seek to pass a simple regulatory framework to license adult-use marijuana.
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Marijuana Taxation and Black Market Crowd-Out
Tax rates that elevate the price of legal marijuana significantly above black market prices prolong the presence of illegal markets and reduce government tax receipts.
