“Cannabis lobbying groups are arming prohibitionists by demonizing hemp—helping those who have been at war with cannabis for decades… I’ve rarely seen a more self-defeating campaign.”
By Aaron Edelheit, Mindset Capital
Are cannabis organizations working to advance reform? Or are they arming the very prohibitionists who want to stop all THC commerce?
Some regulated cannabis companies and cannabis lobbying groups are hard at work fighting hemp, which they see as unfairly competing with more regulated state-cannabis companies. They celebrated last November when Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) snuck a ban into a government funding bill. But knowingly or not, these same organizations are now working side by side with prohibitionists whose cult-like coalition includes politicians and interest groups who want to keep all cannabinoids illegal.
In my opinion, cannabis lobbying groups are arming prohibitionists by demonizing hemp—helping those who have been at war with cannabis for decades. Today’s prohibitionist movement runs on funding from those who hate THC. Every win against their hated enemy, THC, brings prohibitionists more donations, more influence, more media coverage.
The prohibitionists will do anything to win. Beyond misleading and using scare tactics, they have employed canvassers for the Massachusetts ballot initiative who misled signatories about what they were signing. This is more than just politics or business: people are being incarcerated and having their lives ruined, and families are being torn apart because of a plant that should be regulated, not banned.
The hemp ban gave them momentum: sustained energy, paid media, influencer campaigns, political muscle. Now Massachusetts faces the first ballot initiative to roll back a state-legal market, bought and paid for by prohibitionists. The op-eds and influencer campaigns are in full swing, timed perfectly ahead of a federal rescheduling decision.
What the regulated cannabis industry may not understand, is that by aligning themselves with the prohibitionists they are now fighting the president of the United States. President Donald Trump wants the ban delayed so that there is time for common-sense regulation, and it has been reported that he is personally lobbying senators to give Congress time to get it right.
I’ve rarely seen a more self-defeating campaign. The cannabis industry is waiting on rescheduling, tax relief and eventually banking access, while actively opposing the one person who controls all three.
So, here’s my plea to cannabis companies fighting hemp: stop pushing for a total ban. Don’t fight the first president to deliver real cannabis reform. If you want a fight, fight for smart regulation, not alongside the prohibitionists.
Aaron Edelheit is the CEO of Mindset Capital, a private investment firm with investments in cannabis and hemp beverage companies.
Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.
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