The last few months has seen a flurry of activity with regard to congressional support for modifications to the laws governing medical marijuana in the United States of America. So much so that that a bipartisan US Congressional Delegation is heading to Europe next week to study the various drug policies and regulatory systems that are currently in place in several countries in Europe today. The trip caps off in Berlin at the International Cannabis Business Conference (ICBC).

Germany has recently legalized medical marijuana and is expected to have an industry bigger than Canada’s within just a few years. As Germany’s Cannabis Agency is being established, and other kinks in the new cannabis laws get ironed out, the visit from the representatives comes at an auspicious time. “We are more than excited to have the bipartisan delegation at our event,” says Alex Rogers, founder and producer of the International Cannabis Business Conference (ICBC). “Our goal is to connect and educate people in the industry, as well as help move cannabis policy forward in all of the places around the world we do our events”.

As part of a multi-country tour, Congressman Brian Higgins from New York and California Congressman Dana Rohrabacher will stop by the ICBC to answer questions regarding cannabis laws and the new Trump administration, and discuss national and international drug policy. Congressman Rohrabacher, a former speechwriter to Ronald Reagan, will keynote the April 12 session. Representative Rohrabacher commented on the progress of marijuana law reform, “This is an exciting time for drug policy reform. I haven’t witnessed this scale of reform in the world since I worked with Ronald Reagan in 1987, when he uttered those famous words: ‘Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall.’ Now, almost 30 years later, the Berlin Wall of medical marijuana prohibition is crumbling.”

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore