Thursday Buzz: A Cannabis-Flavored Bar Association

The association space just got a little bit bigger—thanks to the latest group focused on the growing marijuana field.

The National Cannabis Bar Association (NCBA), the country’s first professional body  (opens in a new tab) for medical marijuana, will focus on “educating and connecting cannabis industry lawyers to promote excellent, ethical, and advanced legal assistance to this growing industry,” according to the association’s website  (opens in a new tab).

So far, 23 states and the District of Columbia have moved on laws  (opens in a new tab) related to medical marijuana, decriminalization, or legalization. NCBA’s 10-member board aims to help organizations and businesses figure out the complicated legislative and regulatory environment that’s emerged.

“As more and more states decriminalize or legalize cannabis—and set up their own regulatory structures—the legal conditions cannabis industry clients and their attorneys face are likely to get even more complex before they get simpler,” NCBA President and Executive Director Shabnam Malek said in a statement  (opens in a new tab). “The NCBA will offer support and advocacy for attorneys working with businesses in this rapidly changing, swiftly emerging industry.”

Most of the board members are based in the western U.S., where legalization efforts have been more successful, though there are a few members in Florida and New York.

Dues are $150 per year for lawyers and $50 for nonlawyers. The association plans to officially launch at an event  (opens in a new tab) in Denver on June 30.

Changes in Twitter Blocking

Starting today we’re rolling out a change to make sharing lists of blocked accounts easy: https://t.co/3kdks4KKX9  (opens in a new tab)

— Support (@Support) June 10, 2015  (opens in a new tab)

Per @safety  (opens in a new tab), @Twitter  (opens in a new tab) users can now share & import block lists: https://t.co/ptaqXzOfPO  (opens in a new tab) ht @anildash  (opens in a new tab) pic.twitter.com/CofEclh4Fg  (opens in a new tab)

— Alex Howard (@digiphile) June 11, 2015  (opens in a new tab)

You can now share your block lists with other Twitter users. How could this affect you?

If you or your association has had to block users  (opens in a new tab) on the micro-blogging social network, you definitely have a block list. And now that list can now be exported and shared with other accounts—and vice versa.

Twitter says the goal is to improve safety  (opens in a new tab) for all. It can help when accounts or communities deal with an onslaught of unwanted or abusive tweets. Could this help solve Twitter’s troll problem  (opens in a new tab)?

more Links to Enjoy

“Meetings are a mess,” David Coleman says  (opens in a new tab) in his latest piece at CMSWire, where he talks about achieving a successful event. He interviewed professionals and digs deep.

Let’s work on your organization’s marketing. In a guest post on Kivi’s Nonprofit Marketing Blog, Billy Attar highlights  (opens in a new tab) several free tools to pull off some strong marketing work.

Does your organization span the country or the globe? In a video on Inc., Morgen Newman of MixedMade shares his strategies  (opens in a new tab) on working with partners and coworkers remotely.

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