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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Nevada Ballot Initiative Analysis: Question 4 (2020)
Nevada's Ballot Question 4 proposes to amend the constitution to insert a section guaranteeing certain voters rights.
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Nevada Ballot Initiative Analysis: Question 3 (2020)
Nevada's Ballot Question 3 would make changes to the State Board of Pardons Commissioners.
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Nevada Ballot Initiative Analysis: Question 2 (2020)
Ballot question 2 asks voters to remove language from the state constitution that prohibits same sex marriage.
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Nevada Ballot Initiative Analysis: Question 1 (2020)
Question 1 would amend the Nevada Constitution to remove the Board of Regents as the controlling body for the Nevada System of Higher Education.
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Marijuana Legalization Could Address Criminal Justice Reform and State Revenue Concerns
Marijuana legalization not only presents the opportunity to generate additional state and local revenue but can also address much-needed criminal justice reform in states like North Carolina.
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COVID-19 Lockdown Problems and Alternative Strategies to Safely Reopening the Economy
Part one of a series discussing strategies for combating and recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. More data-driven approaches based on test and trace are desirable.
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The Strengths and Flaws in Minnesota’s Marijuana Legalization Bill
The bill, H.F. 4632, would legalize recreational marijuana use by adults and set rules for a legal cannabis industry in the state.
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New Mexico and Other States Should Revisit Marijuana Legalization Efforts
Although most early marijuana legalization efforts were driven by ballot measures, legislative bodies have increasingly been willing to consider legalization on their own.
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Analysis of New Mexico’s Cannabis Regulation Act
"Legalized recreational cannabis in New Mexico is inevitable," Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said.
