Cannabis CEOs Greet Harris’ Legalization Plans With Cautious Optimism
In a bid to win the support of Black men, an electorate reportedly hesitant about voting for her, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, is promising federal legalization for cannabis.
If elected, Harris plans to “break down unjust legal barriers that hold Black men and other Americans back by legalizing marijuana nationally, working with Congress to ensure that the safe cultivation, distribution, and possession of recreational marijuana is the law of the land,” the campaign announced in a public statement.
This would be a step forward from the Biden administration’s current stance on cannabis, which includes pardoning people convicted of marijuana possession and possibly reclassifying the plant from a Schedule 1 to Schedule 3 designation.
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Anthony Coniglio, CEO and president of NewLake Capital Partners, a provider of real estate capital to state-licensed cannabis operators, expressed cautious optimism. For him, the real issue would be the legislative action, which might be problematic as it would require bipartisan Congressional support.
“As we’ve seen during Biden’s presidency, executive power is limited, and lasting change for the cannabis industry will require congressional action,” he said. “While we applaud Harris’ commitment to addressing the harm caused by the War on Drugs and the disproportionate impact of mass incarceration on communities of color, it remains unclear if there will be enough bipartisan support to fully realize her reform proposals.”
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