Amazon Could Help Fight For Cannabis Legalization
Last month, Amazon announced it supports cannabis decriminalization and legalization, becoming the biggest company in the US to back cannabis legalization. Now, as a federal bill pushes legalization forward, activists hope the industry giant uses its influence to help the bill get passed.
Amazon Could Help In Cannabis Legalization
Due to the announcement, those in favor of cannabis legalization are hoping Amazon can use its team and huge financial wealth to support cannabis legalization, in hope that ad campaigns could help persuade those opposed to cannabis legalization, especially state representatives.
Cannabis advocates have chatted with Amazon and the company made it clear that they’re already discussing cannabis legalization in Washington D.C.; Advocates claim that they’re disappointed with how long federal legalization is taking and affirm that if Amazon actively supports federal reform and maybe funds certain groups, the cannabis reform would benefit positively.
According to research conducted in 2020, ⅓ of Americans live in a state where cannabis is legal (or will soon become legal), and 68% of voters support federal legalization but the government and many companies are still testing employees for cannabis, even where cannabis is legal.
The Company May Have Other Reasons
Despite the tight control all over the US, Amazon has one of the most relaxed controls on cannabis among major employers, and despite supporting legalization and making the decision of not testing employees for cannabis, the company has not given any indications that it plans on selling cannabis if federal legalization happens.
However, there are some indications that the company might be interested in convincing other companies to support legalization, some advocates have confirmed meeting with Amazon representatives to discuss federal cannabis policy and had conversations about CBD but didn’t affirm whether they would commercialize said products or not.
Despite not expressing whether they would commercialize THC and/or CBD or not, experts claim Amazon is a big corporation and people can get the impression that, if they help push legalization forward, it’s for a reason other than just helping the cannabis community.
