• REEFER MADNESS. Former Rep. Ron Klink (D-Pa.), now a lobbyist at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, has signed up to represent Weedmaps, an online marijuana dispensary directory based in California. The forms don’t reveal much about what the new clients want, outside of mentioning “appropriations” legislation. But Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsGOP set to release controversial Biden report Trump's policies on refugees are as simple as ABCs Ocasio-Cortez, Velázquez call for convention to decide Puerto Rico status MORE is seeking to remove language from an appropriations bill that would allow doctors for Veterans Affairs to not only talk to patients about using marijuana for treatment in states where it is legal. The provision would also block the Justice Department from prosecuting those patients who use the drug.

• TECH. Alibaba Group Holding Limited, which is among the largest internet companies by revenue, hired law and lobby firm Alston & Bird. The work will be wide-ranging, including federal “policy issues relating to intellectual property, international trade, e-commerce and technology,” according to disclosure forms. The firm is the company’s fourth K Street firm on retainer. The others are Baker & Hostetler and Sidney Austin, which do both advocacy and legal work, and the Duberstein Group.

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• HEALTH CARE. The National Council for Behavioral Health is pushing to create a way for those with substance abuse problems to get medication without setting foot in a doctor’s office. The organization hired Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting to help “urge [the Drug Enforcement Administration] to create a pathway under the Ryan Haight Act for patients to receive medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for substance use disorders via telemedicine.” The firm may also try asking lawmakers to act on the issue, or “create a pathway through the Presidents Opioid Commission.” Congress passed the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act to thwart “rogue” pharmacies on the internet from prescribing controlled substances. There are some exceptions for telemedicine, but there are still limitations.

• ELECTIONS. Robert “Bobby” Lehman, a solo lawyer and lobbyist in Washington, is working for the National Election Defense Coalition to lobby the federal government on “election cybersecurity.” The group says it is “working to build a bipartisan consensus on the need for reform, while building a comprehensive, cost-effective plan to secure the vote in coming elections.”