In response to last week’s announcement of a bipartisan amendment to the Farm Bill seeking to ban intoxicating hemp products from the market, the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) sent a message to Congress — prohibition isn’t the answer.
“Now is the time for federal regulation – not prohibition,” said WSWA president & CEO Francis Creighton in a press release. “Lawmakers need not look too far back in history to learn from the beverage alcohol marketplace and know, without a doubt, that prohibition isn’t the answer. Congress should be focused on protecting public safety and empowering states to regulate the sale of these products – just as federal regulations for alcohol have done for 90-plus years.”
WSWA, which supports the regulation of THC whether it comes from hemp or cannabis, is the first alcohol industry trade association to publicly support the legalization of adult-use cannabis, and to brief Congress on comprehensive federal regulations for those products based upon the success and efficacy of the U.S. alcohol regulatory model.
The amendment in question seeks to ban intoxicating hemp products by eliminating them from the definition of legal hemp. If enacted, this would likely lead to the removal of these products from shelves across the country.
“I have doubts about the ability to eliminate all of these products any more than they’ve eliminated the cannabis marketplace. There’s several ways to skin the cat, so to speak, and in our view the cleanest is to essentially try to replicate what we have in the alcohol space,” said Dawson Hobbs, WSWA’s executive VP of Government Affairs, reported Politico in late May.
“We’ve just completed the first lap of a long-distance race. There are a lot of mileposts along the way where this can be changed. One of the benefits of this amendment is that it brought the conversation to the forefront,” Hobbs said in the recent press release.
WSWA’s framework is built on four principles drawing on long-established federal laws governing the alcohol industry. The Associations’ principles for comprehensive federal legalization and oversight of the adult-use cannabis supply chain are rooted in four pillars:
The federal permitting of cannabis producers, importers, testing facilities and distributors.
The federal approval and regulation of “cannabis products and product labels.”
The efficient and effective collection of federal excise tax.
Effective federal measures to ensure public safety.
A recent survey conducted by the medical marijuana telehealth platform NuggMD indicates that many cannabis users are ready to significantly shape the 2024 election, cutting across political lines.
The poll showed President Joe Biden outpacing former President Donald Trump among people who use cannabis regularly, a voting block of some 35 million nationwide.
When asked whether a presidential candidate’s endorsement of pro-cannabis policies would increase their likelihood of voting for that candidate, 59% of the respondents replied “Yes, this would make me more likely to vote for that candidate regardless of their party.” Only 14% of respondents said they intended to vote for their party or candidate of choice.
Pro-Cannabis Policies Move Voters
Deb Tharp, head of legal and policy research at NuggMD, stressed the transformative potential of embracing pro-cannabis policies, noting that such measures could attract voters from across the political spectrum. “This poll shows that adopting pro-cannabis policies can move more constituents into either party’s camp. This is a large voting population we’re talking about, and its demographics are changing quickly.”
That said, the survey indicated a clear preference, 43%, among cannabis users for Biden compared to 36% for Trump. The survey noted that Democrats were perceived as having better cannabis policy ideas, garnering support from 56% of respondents.
Despite this support for pro-cannabis candidates and policies, the survey underscored a sense of dissatisfaction with both major political parties regarding cannabis reform. Nearly 40% of respondents said they believed Democrats aimed to suppress the legal use of cannabis, while a substantial 68% held the same views about Republicans.
The survey also shed light on the importance of understanding cannabis culture in shaping effective legislation. A striking 88% of respondents emphasized the necessity of this understanding, yet 73% felt that elected officials lack it.
The survey suggests an opportunity for Democratic candidates to capitalize on the support of the cannabis community by championing reform.
Tharp stressed the potential impact of this constituency, particularly in states like Florida where the Supreme Court recently approved the placement of a cannabis legalization amendment on the November ballot. With nearly two million voting-age Floridians using cannabis regularly, their turnout could significantly influence the outcome. Trump has said he is not fond of cannabis legalization ballot initiatives because they tend to boost Democratic turnout.
NuggMD conducted the digital poll from March 25 to April 3, contacting over 53,000 individuals. The survey’s margin of error stood at 3.89%, with a confidence level of 95%. Six swing states were over-indexed to enhance the poll’s electoral relevance.
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