Samantha Walsh

Samantha Walsh is an expert in public affairs strategies and legislative policy and who started the lobbying effort in Colorado that paved the way for the state to become the premier state in hemp. She worked on every piece of instrumental hemp policy in Colorado starting with historic Senate Bill 13-241, implementing the first legal hemp program back in the United States, to crafting a pro-hemp food policy in Colorado that treated hemp-derived CBD as a food ingredient. She has worked directly for the Marijuana Policy Project, United Food and Commercial Workers Union, and various hemp and marijuana clients ranging from premier edibles manufacturers, dispensaries and grows to cannabis education and advocacy groups. Samantha consistently serves on several task forces and advisory groups that craft the historic legislation for Colorado’s cannabis laws and regulations.  Ms. Walsh also co-founded the National Hemp Association, where she served as vice-chair and directed communications strategy; managed the organization’s legislative agenda for industrial hemp. She currently sits on several committees for the Colorado Hemp Agricultural Management Plan (CHAMP) and the Colorado Hemp Agricultural Advancement Guild (CHAAG) where she continues to drive policy discussions on hemp in Colorado. Recently, Ms. Walsh was the lead lobbyist in a push for Social Equity reforms and programs in Cannabis in Colorado.