This week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sens. Ron Wyden and Cory Booker announced the most comprehensive cannabis reform proposal introduced to date in Congress, the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act. The Act’s introduction follows years of building momentum behind cannabis reform legislation in Congress. The passage of the SAFE Banking Act out of the House of Representatives in 2019 marked the first time a cannabis bill received a vote in either chamber of Congress. The MORE Act closely followed, in late 2020. And then there’s the momentum at the state level, too. In the first half of 2021, four states legalized cannabis for adult use, bringing the total to nineteen. In tandem, cannabis-related lobbying in Congress has been on the rise, as Cannabis Wire has extensively reported over the years. Increasingly, we’ve found that this includes global giants from other industries, such as Diageo (alcohol) and Altria (tobacco). And pharma, too, according to Cannabis Wire’s latest analysis of lobbying disclosures from early 2021.
Nushin Rashidian, Cannabis Wire, 07/15/2021 20:00:00