David Culver

SVP of Public Affairs

US Cannabis Council

David Culver is the SVP of Public Affairs at the US Cannabis Council. With over 25 years of experience spanning the globe, David has crafted winning strategies on behalf of trade associations and global corporations with a specialty in beverage alcohol, cannabis, and other highly regulated industries.

Prior to his role at USCC, David served as Vice President of Global Government & Stakeholder Relations for Canopy Growth Corporation, the world’s leading cannabis company. In this role, David built and managed the company's global government relations efforts including their entry into the US as a CBD company. He founded the company’s employee PAC, and was a founding board member of USCC.

David served as Vice President of Government Affairs at the Distilled Spirits Council (DISCUS) for 16 years prior.  Among many accolades during his tenure, most notably, he was instrumental in the passage of the Craft Beverage Modernization & Tax Reform Act in December 2017 - the first industry-wide tax reduction since the Civil War.  David helped launched the Craft Distiller Membership Program in 2010, recruiting nearly 150 new members for the organization and he jointly oversaw the organization’s USDA Market Access Program, which promoted American made spirits overseas. 

David served in a variety of campaign and legislative positions for Senator(s) Robert C. Byrd (D-WV), Tom Daschle (D-SD), J. Robert Kerrey (D-NE), and Ben Nelson (D-NE). 

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Hamilton College and resides in Washington, DC with his wife and daughter.  

Regarding the working group on CBD, it is just that . . . I'm not trying to start a trade group but just get everyone around the table to talk . . . I doubt we will ever agree on all the details but something is about to move and we need to open the lines of communication, in my opinion.