\u201cMoney has no nationality\u201d (and variations thereof) is one of those clever-sounding aphorisms that, upon close examination, fall apart quickly. Just look at the cannabis investors in the industry. Who funds the company that sells you weed and therefore profits off of every transaction? The answer may surprise you.<\/p>\n
A flood of money from newly legalized Canada created the first (legitimate) unicorns in the industry, before that country\u2019s bubble burst and capital markets dried up. Now, with US investor confidence currently hurt and confused by President Joe Biden\u2019s unwillingness to create a constitutional crisis on behalf of their stonks, money is coming into cannabis from all over the world\u2014wherever it can be secured, really.<\/p>\n
This is true for any publicly traded company in any industry, but not every industry was made possible because of legalized adult-use marijuana. Legalization came packaged to voters and the public with social justice promises<\/a>. And cannabis companies market themselves today as socially conscious and responsible companies.<\/p>\n This all begs a question: Can capitalists right the wrongs of the War on Drugs\u2014and can they do so if their venture capital was earned in, say, Russia\u2014where Brittney Griner was just sentenced to nine years in prison for scraps of cannabis oil?<\/p>\n One state lawmaker doesn\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n In May, Pennsylvania State Rep. Danilo Burgos, a Philadelphia Democrat, introduced a bill <\/a>urging the state Department of Health to \u201cinvestigate each entity\u2026 with a permit to open and operate a medical cannabis business\u201d and to \u201ctake steps to revoke the permit\u201d if there\u2019s a connection to Russia.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s crucial that we work as a body to ensure no Pennsylvania government programs are utilized to benefit those who are complicit in the Russian war effort,\u201d Burgos said in a statement<\/a> when his bill was introduced May 2. \u201cWe must take every effort to support Ukraine in their struggle against this unprovoked Russian invasion.\u201d<\/p>\n In a later phone interview, Burgos said he introduced the bill to use the Ukraine war and increasing scrutiny on Russian oligarchs and US firms doing business in Vladimir Putin\u2019s country to highlight an ongoing problem with cannabis legalization: The economic benefits are going to outside investors rather than Black and brown locals harmed by the War on Drugs, whom legalization backers promised would be uplifted.<\/p>\n \u201cThis will help bring more attention to the overall problem in the entire commonwealth,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019m trying to do: Trying to use current events that are catching peoples\u2019 attention to shed light on the larger problem.\u201d<\/p>\n There are 165 permitted medical-cannabis dispensaries currently in Pennsylvania, according to the state health department<\/a>. These include some of the biggest companies selling cannabis in the US. However, Burgos insists his legislation has nothing to do with any particular company.<\/p>\n \u201cI did this to bring to light the lack of willingness, by government in general over the years but particularly here in Pennsylvania, where we seem to miss the target when it comes to helping communities of color,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s very little push for communities of color to have access in the cannabis world,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s extremely prohibitive for people of color to invest in cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to a lack of access to cannabis investors, capital, onerous permit fees and limited licensing have been blamed for depressing BIPOC participating in legal marijuana.\u00a0<\/p>\n In an e-mailed statement, a state Department of Health spokesperson said the agency \u201cdoes not have a formal position\u201d on Burgos\u2019 bill. The spokesperson noted that under Pennsylvania law<\/a>, applicants for medical marijuana permits must provide a criminal background check that the health department uses to \u201cdetermine the\u2026 character, fitness and suitability\u201d of the applicant. They must also provide documents identifying \u201ceach financial backer and principal.\u201d However, there are no restrictions on sources<\/em> of capital. Nor must an applicant declare where their money came from\u2014after all, it\u2019s green. It has no nationality! But it does have a source\u2014and, maybe, the source matters.<\/p>\n Or maybe not.<\/p>\n Burgos admitted it\u2019ll take an \u201cuphill climb\u201d for his bill to become law, and for there to be a first state to closely examine the source of money in its cannabis industry.<\/p>\n Current indications are that the bill will go nowhere. With their 23-seat majority, Republicans hold all the strings in Pennsylvania\u2019s 203-seat House of Representatives, including when\u2014or if\u2014to call a bill for a hearing. Burgos\u2019 bill is currently assigned to the Pennsylvania House Health Committee, chaired by Republican State Rep. Kathy L. Rapp. In a phone message last month, Rapp said Burgos\u2019 bill isn\u2019t a priority.<\/p>\n \u201cAs of now, I don\u2019t have any plans to call a hearing,\u201d said Rapp, who claimed \u201cthere\u2019s not a lot of days in the Fall to do hearings. So I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll be doing a hearing on this resolution but thank you for reaching out to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite support from Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, Republicans have also successfully blocked proposals<\/a> to legalize cannabis for all adults 21 and over in the state.<\/p>\n And there may be resistance within the cannabis industry to Burgos\u2019 bill\u2014if there\u2019s any attention paid to it at all.<\/p>\n In an e-mail, Meredith Buettner<\/a>, executive director of the Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition<\/a>, an advocacy organization whose members include some of the other biggest cannabis companies in the US, called the Burgos bill \u201ca reaction to a reactionary sentiment that there were multistate operators that had Russian ties. I believe that sentiment has been widely dispelled at this point,\u201d she said. In any event, \u201cit\u2019s not an issue I\u2019ve heard any buzz about.\u201d<\/p>\n There may be too many other issues competing with Americans\u2019 attention. There may also be unclear answers<\/a> to straightforward questions. And, for now, there won\u2019t be any requirement for cannabis companies to tell the public exactly where their capital originates.<\/p>\n The post Who\u2019s Funding Your Favorite Cannabis Company?<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoney has no nationality\u201d (and variations thereof) is one of those clever-sounding aphorisms that, upon close examination, fall apart quickly. Just look at the cannabis investors in the industry. Who funds the company that sells you weed and therefore profits off of every transaction? The answer may surprise you. AContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16061,50,5091,16425,16426,170,16427,65,16428,16429,285,13899,130,4166,16057,97],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56846"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56846"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56847,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56846\/revisions\/56847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fighting the War on Drugs, Again<\/strong><\/h4>\n
The Non-Response Response<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: Who\u2019s Funding Your Favorite Cannabis Company?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"