Amazon Speaks Out on Cannabis Reform –
This week, Amazon’s retail Chief Dave Clarke made headlines in the cannabis community by signaling a major shift in the company’s attitude towards cannabis. In his blog post, Clarke announced that Amazon plans to discontinue its practice of including marijuana in its drug screening program for employees who are not federally regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Instead, Clarke states that the company will approach its employees’ use of cannabis the same way it approaches alcohol use and only test employees in the event of an on-the-job accident.
In addition to moving away from testing employees from cannabis screening, Clarke directly stated that not only does Amazon support the federal legalization of cannabis, but it will actively support the MORE Act recently reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY). In his post, Clarke stated, “because we know that this issue is bigger than Amazon, our public policy team will be actively supporting The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2021 (MORE Act)—federal legislation that would legalize marijuana at the federal level, expunge criminal records, and invest in impacted communities. We hope that other employers will join us and that policymakers will act swiftly to pass this law.”
Many of you likely recall the MORE Act being introduced last Congress. However, the bill had very little momentum when it made it to the Senate in the run-up to the 2020 Presidential election. This time, Rep. Nadler is optimistic that Congress will follow the lead of many states that have been aggressively opening legal medical and adult-use cannabis markets. In his press release, Rep. Nadler stated. “Since I introduced the MORE Act last Congress, numerous states across the nation, including my home state of New York, have moved to legalize marijuana. Our federal laws must keep up with this pace…I’m proud to reintroduce the MORE Act to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, remove the needless burden of marijuana convictions on so many Americans, and invest in communities that have been disproportionately harmed by the War on Drugs.”
With companies like Amazon coming out of the woodwork to support the MORE Act, Rep. Nadler may just get his wish. It’s one thing to change an internal policy on employee drug testing, but to publicly state “active support” for a potential landmark piece of federal legislation is a major signal that Amazon envisions itself as a future leader in the cannabis industry. To date, the vast majority of cannabis lobbying activities have been limited to regionally-based trade associations and grassroots campaigns focused on enacting change at the state and local levels. To be successful, major federal lobbying campaigns require significant funding and the backing of major industry leaders–Amazon knows this as well as anyone. It is worth noting that the one thing missing from Clarke’s blog post, is just how aggressively and in what manner Amazon will be “supporting” the MORE Act. Will they actively lobby Congress? Or will they simply contribute to federal PACs that are already implementing legalization initiatives? It’s still way too early to tell.
At CBDA, we are continually monitoring cannabis lobbying and political activity at the state and federal levels. We will most certainly keep our eyes on Amazon and see if their recent announcement will have a domino effect and lead other companies to support cannabis legislation. However, make no mistake, a corporate titan like Amazon entering the discussion could have a significant impact on accelerating the snail-like pace at which Congress has been moving on this issue over the past few years. Stay tuned.
