TRUMP on Weed
What will another 4 years look like for Cannabis?
2020 might be the wildest year yet!
And it’s been wild for cannabis too. But what will another 4 years look like for US cannabis after coronavirus and the US Presidential Election next Tuesday?
First, some good cannabis corona news:
After being deemed an “essential good” during coronavirus by the states that have legal recreational adult use, cannabis saw a nice bump when other business sectors were struggling. Sales through quarantine have increased up to 40% on average!! (Forbes).
Although much of the tone of the country in 2021 will be determined by whoever wins next Tuesday in the craziest presidential election since 2016, the outcome will also determine the future of cannabis in the US over the next 4 years.
So which candidate will be best for cannabis? Next week we will tackle what the future of US cannabis will look like under Biden. For now let’s dissect Trumpito.
Cannabis is not high on the President’s list of initiatives. SHOCKER!
But why would it be? There are bigger issues in our country than cannabis (gasp!), and the President by most opinions hasn’t done a very good job of managing the more pressing issues of coronavirus, the economy, immigration, foreign policy and whatever else is on CNN this week.
Some have even suggested Trump is afraid of marijuana and its impact. Or perhaps, he sees legalization as a kowtow to liberal ideals and giving Biden “a win”. But that is all speculation.
What has Trump and his administration actually said about cannabis?
Like many other issues, Trump and his administration has given some very mixed messages on cannabis. At a party platform level, Trump supports states rights and less regulation, two staples of the Republican Party, but often what he says is not what he does or believes.
Jeff Sessions, his original pick for Attorney General, was a staunch cannabis opponent and once said that “Good people don’t smoke marijuana.” Although Sessions didn’t last long in the Trump sphere, it at least shows that Sessions’ record on cannabis didn’t prevent Trump from appointing him.
Ex-press secretary Sean Spicer, another example of the revolving door of the Trump administration, gave more mixed messages in 2017. During a press conference Spicey said Trump, “understands the pain and suffering that many people go through who are facing especially terminal diseases, and the comfort that some of these drugs, including medical marijuana, can bring to them,” (Politico). BUT, in the very next sentence he dashed the hopes of the industry by saying, “I do believe that you’ll see greater enforcement of it,” referring to recreational cannabis.
Neither of these statements actually amounted to anything.
Then in 2018, the president himself spoke on cannabis. When asked about individual states rights to legalize cannabis, Trump said, “right now we are allowing states to make that decision. And a lot of states are making that decision. But we are allowing the states to make that decision.”
In other words, it’s not important to me, and I’m not touching it. Which is probably the best we can hope for from the most apathetic president in history.
Since 2018, Trump has hired Mark Meadows , Kayleigh McEnany , and Surgeon General Jerome Adams , all public opponents of cannabis. Still, these decisions had little to do with cannabis, and more simply a constant tenament of conservative politicians.
Most recently, Mark Meadows was asked if Trump planned to make any changes to his Marijuana policy leading up to the election. The chief of staff laughed and replied, “Trump has no plan to lift a finger on cannabis legalization or even normalization.”
Lucky for us, Trump can’t control normalization, that’s already occurred.
Unlucky for us, it’s clear the president intends to be lethargic on the issue of federal legalization.
Many have speculated that “The Donald” may make a last second grasp at more liberal voters by passing some sort of cannabis legislation prior to the election. But with less than a week to go before the votes are counted, that doesn’t seem very likely at this point.
Unsurprisingly, but still disappointingly, cannabis was not mentioned in either of the Presidential debates and has yet to be seriously discussed by Trump. Biden has made some public statements on his website, which we will discuss next week.
Trump doesn’t care about cannabis. And if re-elected, Trump won’t interfere with states rights, but he most likely won’t do anything to progress the industry either.
Originally published at http://investingincannabis.tv on October 30, 2020.
