New cannabis coalition for federal legalization rollout

by Team Inc.

2021-03-12-New cannabis coalition to roll out federal legalization

The group within the cannabis coalition consists of representatives from the alcohol, tobacco and insurance sectors. Posters and stickers are seen about the legalization of marijuana in Washington, DC with the aim of influencing cannabis policy.

A new cannabis coalition consisting of a wide variety of national companies, including tobacco and alcohol manufacturers, launched this week. Under the premise that federal legalization is inevitable, the group enlists a group of cannabis policy experts to guide their efforts.

Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education and Regulation

The Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education and Regulation plans to focus on discussions of federal and state policy. Those policy areas include concerns about public safety, youth prevention, minority access to industry and national standards for product testing and pesticides. The group plans to collect data, research and produce white papers on these policy issues that can be used to inform legislators.

"There are dozens of unanswered questions right now," said Andrew Freedman, executive director of the coalition. Any of these are enough to delay legalization. So we have to answer all these open questions definitively. ” There are now 16 states that have enacted full legalization of marijuana, while another 26 have legal medical markets only. Senate leader Chuck Schumer has embraced marijuana legalization and calls it a priority for this Congress. Meanwhile, the industry is booming - legal sales were more than $ 20 billion last year, according to New Frontier Data, a 50 percent jump from 2019.

Cannabis magnates

The current composition of the coalition consists of tobacco giant Altria, beer giants Constellation Brands (Corona, Modelo) and Molson Coors Beverage Company, two national neighborhood shopping associations, the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers and The Brink's Company.

Many of these companies already have significant stakes in the cannabis industry and can benefit from federal policy changes. Constellation owns 39 percent of the major Canadian cannabis company Canopy Growth Corp. Altria bought a $2018 billion stake in cannabis company Cronos Group in 1,8 and lobbied for Virginia's recently passed marijuana legalization bill. In addition, Constellation and Molson Coors both produce CBD-infused drinks.

The coalition also has a Center of Excellence made up of experts including cannabis entrepreneur and former president of the Minority Cannabis Business Association Shanita Penny, Staci Gruber of McLean Hospital and Harvard University, Brandy Axdahl of the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, and John Hudak from the Brookings Institution.

Bringing together parties in the cannabis coalition within the cannabis industry

The new coalition balances two sides: large companies with an interest in cannabis policy and regulation, and experts who are not yet or are convinced of the large-scale legalization and equal access to weed.

Penny said she accepted the invitation to join because it gives her a stronger platform to influence policy. She hopes it will become a forum where groups that are often not part of the legalization debate can discuss the areas of cannabis policy they have strong views on, such as youth access or criminal justice reform.

Read more politico.com (Source, EN)

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