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When PharmaCann, an Illinois-based cannabis company licensed in eight states, looked to gain a foothold in New Jersey, it sought help navigating the state’s political and regulatory landscape. The best person for the job, it was told, was Brendan Gill, who managed Gov. Phil Murphy’s election campaign and has the ear of the governor.

“He has a deep understanding of the sense and sensibility of New Jersey policy and stakeholders,” said Jeremy Unruh, director of regulatory and public affairs for PharmaCann.

Despite Gill’s connection to the governor, Unruh said his advice “did not come with ‘Hey, I can get you a meeting with the governor.’” According to Unruh, lobbying was not what was expected of him.

“I don’t have a recollection of him talking about setting up meetings with people in the administration,” he said.

But he did say that Gill told executives who they should be talking with in Trenton.

Gill, the Essex County Freeholder President, runs the BGill Group, which promotes itself as a full-service advocacy firm “that combines government affairs, digital media and government consulting to wisely meet the needs of corporations, organizations, and public leaders." He acknowledged that he advises several cannabis clients, including PharmaCann. However, he said his role was not to be a go-between with the administration.

“I don’t set up meetings with the administration,” he said. “We do local community affairs and strategic counseling and advice.”

Whatever his role, Gill is one of a growing number of influential power players in the state — including high-profile lawyers, public relations firms and public strategy consultants with ties to the administration or relationships with the state Legislature — now advising cannabis clients as the state moves closer to adult recreational use of weed. And unlike lobbyists, they are not required to report that activity.

Former campaign manager Brendan Gill (right) speaks with then-candidate Phil Murphy during the gubernatorial campaign.

Nearly $1.4 million was spent in New Jersey last year for lobbying over weed, according to reports released earlier this month the Election Law Enforcement Commission. Industry experts, however, say at least as much was likely spent on lawyers, consultants, financial advisors, public relations firms and others like Gill, as advocates and businesses seek to either shape legislation, or capture a share of what could ultimately be what they estimate as a billion-dollar market for marijuana in the state.

Ben Dworkin, director of the Rowan Institute for Public Policy & Citizenship who closely follows the state’s political scene, said cannabis companies who hope to do business here may well be looking for political juice. At the same time, though, he said they are also seeking out those who know how things work in New Jersey’s political culture.

“I think there is overlap,” he said. “Any private company that’s going to be engaged in the emerging cannabis industry wants people who understand the New Jersey political ecosystem.”

Dworkin said those entering New Jersey’s fledgling cannabis market will likely need more than just political influence.

“Cannabis is the Wild West of legislative activity right now. The technology of the industry is changing so frequently, with new products coming on line or in development constantly, that everybody is trying to handle the legal aspects and the public relations aspects and the legislative aspects of any regulatory system that is created,” he remarked.

For example, Dworkin pointed out the federal government still considers recreational cannabis sales illegal. That could create problems for a federally regulated bank, which might have legal questions about whether they can serve a business selling weed. Questions about siting businesses will require public affairs specialists, he said. And legislative action means there will be lobbyists involved.

The ELEC report revealed many of the state’s most influential lobbyists have become players in just the past year — representing the interests of a once-controversial business where few had clients in 2017.

Optimus Partners, the lobbying firm led by Jeff Michaels, a former chief of staff to Republican Gov. Donald DiFrancesco, and Philip Norcross, the brother of longtime Democratic power brother George Norcross, was retained by Acreage Holdings, one of the nation's largest cannabis cultivation, retail and real estate companies, the ELEC data showed. The lobbying firm of 1868 Public Affairs, headed by former state legislator Leroy Jones Jr. has multiple cannabis clients, according to its ELEC filings.

The former lobbying firm of Peter Cammarano, who until recently served as the governor’s chief of staff, also had a client, the ELEC filing showed. But Cammarano, who receives a separation payout from the firm, said he no longer has ties to his old firm, and that has had no involvement with the cannabis industry.

“When I was there, there were no cannabis clients,” Cammarano said. “I’ve never made a dime on marijuana.”

For New Jersey law firms, cannabis has also become a big business, even for staid partnerships once reluctant to get involved in the business. According to the state bar association, it has become a booming new specialty.

“In the infant stages of the movement there were a lot of people that wouldn’t get near this,” said William Caruso, an attorney and marijuana lobbyist who helped found the New Jersey Cannabis Industry Association.

That’s no longer the case, he said. “It’s not a lonely place,” Caruso observed. “This is a significant practice area for law firms.”

Genova Burns, one of the state’s most recognizable law firms and long known for its involvement in campaign finance issues, recently created a cannabis law practice. Among the attorneys assigned to the group is Rajiv D. Parikh, the former chief counsel for Murphy’s transition team.

Michael C. McQueeny, the co-chair of the firm’s cannabis practice group, said with the proposed New Jersey legislation envisioning an unknown and unnamed group of regulatory commissioners — as well as more than 500 town interpretations of the law and yet-to-be created rules — businesses are looking to partner with law firms who understand the state’s new laws and regulations.

“We have clients who have had remarkable success elsewhere, but they come to us because they seek an on-the-ground appreciation for the process with some uniquely New Jersey features contained within the developing law,” McQueeny said.

The New Jersey CannaBusiness Association said most of those looking to establish a business here are not paying for lobbyists. “They’re paying for services to establish a business,” said Scott Rudder, who heads the trade association. “Just like any other business.”

PharmaCann said it did hire a lobbyist from Washington to represent its interests in the state, albeit one with little in the way of New Jersey connections,. The company retained a public relations consultant as well.

But Unruh, the company’s regulatory affairs director, said Gill was referred to the company as someone who could help them “identify and develop a feel for the state of New Jersey” from a local and hyperlocal level.

“Part of his scope is to understand who we should be meeting with,” Unruh explained.

Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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