2020 Election: Cannabis and Hemp/CBD Enjoy Bipartisan Support
This article originally appeared in the December edition of Presence Marketing’s Industry Newsletter
By Steven Hoffman
In a country divided, there was one thing in the 2020 elections that enjoyed bipartisan support, and that was cannabis.
In New Jersey, 67% of voters approved the legalization of recreational marijuana for people age 21 and over. The new recreational market is expected to generate $1.9 billion in sales in the state, resulting in $126 million in sales tax revenue, according the estimates from New Jersey’s Office of Legislative Services, reported Bloomberg News,.
In all, five more states in the U.S. approved ballot measures legalizing cannabis use for adults, including Arizona, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota. Prior to the 2020 election, 11 states and Washington, D.C., had legalized marijuana.
According to the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, “It would be premature to proclaim the Biden/Harris Administration as pro-cannabis. But while both Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris once took adverse positions, their campaign called for the de-criminalization of marijuana and expungement of convictions. This should translate to a Department of Justice that will place a much lower priority on policing levels of THC in hemp and hemp extracts.”
Jonathan Miller, General Counsel for the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, told Let’s Talk Hemp, “We are increasingly optimistic about hemp’s political prospects. Nearly all of our biggest supporters, from both parties, won reelection, and the likely changes among the political leadership at FDA, USDA and DEA could help resolve some of the more difficult issues that farmers and the industry have been facing.”
According to the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, hemp industry champions in Congress scored some victories on Election Day 2020:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who led the fight for hemp’s legalization in the 2014 and 2018 Farm Bills, won reelection by a more than 20 point margin in Kentucky. It is still not clear whether McConnell will remain Majority Leader, but even if Democrats take control of the U.S. Senate, hemp will be secure under the leadership of Chuck Schumer (D-NY) (and McConnell would remain a powerful force as Minority Leader.)
U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), who has led efforts to pressure the USDA and FDA into support for the hemp and CBD industries, won reelection by a nearly 20 point margin as well.
Cannabis champion Senator Corey Gardner (R-CO) lost by a wide margin, but his victorious opponent, John Hickenlooper, oversaw one of the first successful state hemp programs in Colorado and should be an industry ally.
Reps. Kurt Schrader (D-OR) and Morgan Griffith (R-VA), lead sponsors of HR 8179-- critical legislation that would open up a legal pathway for the sale of hemp-derived CBD as a dietary supplement – cruised in their reelection bids.
Reps. David Joyce (R-OH) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), authors of a strong letter to DEA, urging that agency to withdraw its troublesome interim final rule on hemp, won overwhelming re-election victories.
U.S. Hemp Roundtable also reported “One sour note: longtime hemp champion, Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) lost a hard-fought battle for re-election in an overwhelmingly Republican district. The hemp industry owes Rep. Peterson a huge debt of gratitude for his important work on the 2018 Farm Bill, introducing legislation to protect hemp-derived CBD, and most recently, helping secure an extension for states to operate under the 2014 Farm Bill. We look forward to working with his replacement as Chair of the House Agriculture Committee,” the hemp advocacy organization said in a statement.
In related news, voters in Oregon approved the decriminalization of possession of small amounts of drugs, and a separate ballot initiative made the state the first to legalize therapeutic use of psychedelic mushrooms. In Washington, D.C., voters passed a measure to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms and other psychedelic plants and fungi, reported NBC News. (The City of Denver, CO, was the first to decriminalize hallucinogenic mushrooms in 2019). Speaking in Oregon, Kassandra Frederique, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, told the Associated Press, “Today’s victory is a landmark declaration that the time has come to stop criminalizing people for drug use.”