Edmund DeVeaux stepped down from his role as president of the New Jersey CannaBusiness Association, effective this week.

In an April 27 press release, the trade industry association announced the resignation, saying that DeVeaux “has accepted another position within the state,” but that he would remain an active board member, lending his voice and policy experience to NJCBA.

Helping to launch the group in 2016, and named president in 2020, DeVeaux has become one of the most prominent public figures representing the Garden State’s evolving cannabis market.

“I have been fortunate to be at NJCBA during the most transitional period of growth in the state’s cannabis industry,” said DeVeaux, who is also a partner at Burton Trent Public Affairs, a Trenton-based lobbying firm.

DeVeaux has also worked in state government as a capital budget analyst in the New Jersey Department of the Treasury – Office of Management and Budget. His background includes positions as an aide to the mayor of New Brunswick and special assistant to U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley.

“It has been my honor to work with a dedicated group of individuals and companies to bring New Jersey’s cannabis industry into focus. At the same time, we’ve been able to take the NJCBA from an advocacy organization to New Jersey’s Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, and I thank everyone who helped get us there,” he said.

Scott Rudder, who founded NJCBA and served as its first president, will take over as interim leader while a search for a permanent replacement is conducted, according to the organization.

“We are saddened to be losing Ed but grateful for his years of service to the cannabis industry,” said Rudder. “Ed took the reins of NJCBA at a critical moment in the state’s history and led this organization with a distinct sense of purpose and an expertise that is second-to-none. He was there at the start of this endeavor and I can think of few people who have done more to positively push forward the cause of cannabis in New Jersey than Ed DeVeaux.”

A former New Jersey state legislator and mayor with Fortune 100 corporate experience, Rudder’s background also includes several senior staff positions in multiple government agencies including in U.S. Congress, the governor’s office, the office of the speaker of the General Assembly and at New Jersey Transit.

He also spent 13 years as a business development executive with Lockheed Martin, the nation’s largest defense contractor and presently is a partner at Burton Trent Public Affairs.

Rudder said, “Looking to the future we still have many and varied challenges to the industry. Those challenges must be met, in part, by working with state and local governments to ease the pathway to cannabis business creation and ownership.”

DeVeaux went on to say, “While leaving is difficult, I could not be leaving NJCBA in more capable hands with Scott Rudder.”

“Scott is a rarity; a politician who was willing to meet and listen to people, hear what they were saying and, eventually, change his position on medical cannabis and legalization. That road led him to found this organization six and a half years ago and be a champion for medical patients and social equity. His leadership in the ‘94 No More’ effort and the legalization ballot campaign shaped the course of the industry and changed lives,” he said.