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The Calgary-based organization said it plans to promote policies for greater access to cannabis and cannabis products, advocate for standards and best practices and reduce business costs by lobbying for sensible regulations.

Companies that pay a fee to join the non-profit organization have access to information from its experts.

“We are going to be able to do advocacy on behalf of the industry and put people together who may want to do business together in the industry just like a normal chamber of commerce.”

Denis said the chamber supports 18 as the legal age of consumption and would like to see legal pot sold in private retail stores.

Other members of the group include former Alberta culture minister Lindsay Blackett.

Blackett, who is focusing on government relations, said there are plenty of businesses and entrepreneurs who want to get involved in the industry, including Indigenous communities that want to become cannabis producers.

Blackett said the industry is poised to grow and will help diversify the economy.

“It is coming whether we like it or not,” he said. “If we work together, we can have an industry that is going to create jobs, is going to create revenue.”

Hanson, who is also a former vice-president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, is listed as the chamber’s “public security adviser.”

Hanson now works for Merrco, a company that says it has secure payment technology for direct-to-consumer cannabis mail-orders. He could not be reached for comment.