Cannabis companies spent $2.8 million lobbying in 2023 💰

CANNABIS LOBBYING
Cannabis spent nearly $2.8 million on federal lobbying in 2023

What happened: Cannabis companies and advocacy groups working on behalf of the industry spent nearly $2.8 million lobbying the federal government last year, according to data from OpenSecrets.com.

The numbers were first highlighted on the platform formerly known as Twitter by Greenwave Advisors, a cannabis industry advisory firm.

Who’s the top lobbyist? The Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education, and Regulation (CPEAR), a group backed by big publicly traded alcohol and tobacco companies including Altria and Molson Coors, was, perhaps unsurprisingly, the top industry lobbyist in 2023: They spent $510,000.

That was followed by Chicago-based cannabis firm Cresco Labs, which contributed $480,000, and the trade group the National Cannabis Roundtable which contributed $456,000.

Our take: $2.8 million is a drop in the bucket compared to, say, pharmaceutical lobbying in the revolving doors of DC politics. 

But still, there’s plenty of action, however slow moving, on Capitol Hill that the industry is paying attention to, from banking legislation to rescheduling.

It’s also crucial to understand who is doing the lobbying, who’s ears they have, and what they’re pushing for. Many of the top cannabis lobbyists are pushing industry-friendly legislation. Social equity is far less represented among the top spending groups, to say the least.

Cannabis tech startup Springbig landed $8 million in  debt financing.

RESCHEDULING RISKS
Polls show consumers might revert to illicit market if legal dispensaries aren’t protected

Driving the news: About one-third of regular cannabis consumers would revert to the illicit market if rescheduling didn’t protect state-legalized dispensaries, according to a new poll shared with Cultivated conducted by NuggMD, a telehealth platform for cannabis.

The poll sampled 795 cannabis consumers from NuggMD’s email list. 

What else does the poll show? While 47% of cannabis consumers believe their access won’t change if the long-awaited move to Schedule III occurs, 32% say they would go back to their old dealer if they were forced to buy cannabis via a prescription through a pharmacy. 

Why it matters: Some experts say that if the Department of Health and Human Services gets its way and cannabis is moved to Schedule III, then, like other Schedule III drugs, cannabis would only be available to those with prescriptions.

The jury, however, is still out on that. 

Our take: It’s unlikely that the federal government would move cannabis to a less restrictive regime (if it does so at all) and then crack down further on the industry. Most experts align on that, and our Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Berke has reported broadly on this and what it would mean for the industry. 

It’s more likely that cannabis would be rescheduled, and then the Department of Justice would release some sort of guidance that enshrines the rights of state-legal dispensaries to continue to operate for consumers. 

But again, when cannabis and politics meet, we’re all just making educated guesses.

Read the rest of the NuggMD poll results here.

More staffing is needed to speed up cannabis rollout | City and State NY