The Trump administration time and time again has shown their disinterest in the legalization of cannabis at the federal level. Trump’s new fiscal budget for 2021 proposes ending state medical marijuana protections and blocking DC from legalizing. By ending the existing approved medical cannabis policy, the Justice Department can freely interfere with state medical programs starting next year. This means the justice department will be able to prevent states from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession or cultivation of medical cannabis. This bill would also block Washington, D.C. from utilizing local tax dollars for cannabis sales. The government is doing everything they can already to prevent the legalization of cannabis with current taxes driving the industry into the ground. 2019 was the worst year for legal cannabis to date. Cannabis business owners and start ups are going bankrupt or moving operations to Canada to avoid the harsh taxes and laws that currently plague the legal industry.
The Trump administration’s interests in keeping the cannabis plant illegal are economic and political, not humanitarian. Trump does not care for medical patients, they care about the bottom line and “mAkInG AmErIcA gReAt aGaIn”. Historically large corporations such as Big Pharma, Big Tobacco, and the Paper industry have fought to keep cannabis illegal to protect their revenue and their businesses. Cannabis is the only other player in the game and it’s a safer and more environmentally sustainable alternative to pharmaceuticals and paper products. Pharmaceutical companies have invested millions of dollars into anti-legalization efforts via lobbying. The legal cannabis industry threatens the economic interests of these massive companies and the corruption goes deeper than many of us truly understand. The PR and economic resources these pharmaceutical companies have at their disposal allow them to keep the public perception of cannabis negative. The current opioid epidemic raging throughout our country killing hundreds of Americans every day clearly doesn’t concern these business giants, just the bottom line and how their business stocks are looking for their investors.
Cannathusiast 