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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That SAFE Banking Act for legal cannabis companies stalls in the Senate, again
The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act has been billed as the answer to banking woes for cannabis companies and a version of it has been introduced in every Congress since 2013.
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California Senate Bill 58 could go further to protect access to psychedelic substances
Senate Bill 58 would legalize the cultivation, preparation, possession and use of dimethyltryptamine, ibogaine, mescaline, and psilocybin or psilocyn in amounts reflecting personal use.
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Massachusetts psychedelics bills are a constructive start
Senate No. 1009 and House No. 3589 are a constructive beginning, but Massachusetts psychedelics reforms need to go further.
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New Hampshire Gov. Sununu pushing state-run marijuana stores
A government monopoly not only violates the basic tenets of free enterprise, but it would also invite federal authorities to arrest state workers.
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Nevada bill would kick off psilocybin regulation process
Senate Bill 242 is a constructive proposal that lays the groundwork for the future adoption of a regulated marketplace for psilocybin through a deliberative and public process.
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Maine would benefit from automatic expungement of cannabis possession records
Legislative Document 1646 would help mitigate past harms of prohibition by expunging criminal records related to cannabis possession.
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Oregon’s proposed labor peace mandate violates federal law
Oregon House Bill 3183 could unconstitutionally usurp the exclusive jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board to govern private-sector labor relations.
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Social equity programs are failing to help victims of the drug war
In many cases, the parties benefiting from social equity programs are wealthy, connected political insiders and large commercial cannabis companies.
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Louisiana H.B. 17 would enact a cannabis market and impose high barriers to entry
Certain provisions of House Bill 17 would establish substantial barriers to entry that will result in a less dynamic marketplace.