Alcohol giant Diageo, Tobacco giant Reynolds, and Morgan Stanley among companies newly lobbying on cannabis
The involvement of tobacco and alcohol companies is an unwelcome development for some cannabis reform advocates
Wednesday, April 21, 2021
The US House of Representatives passed a bill to expand cannabis industry access to banking. While a version of that bill stalled in the last Senate, Democrats now have a majority. Major companies are taking notice. Cannabis Wire was the first news organization to report that Marlboro maker Altria had started to get into cannabis lobbying at the state level, through its registration on cannabis sales in Virginia, and that the company planned to lobby at the federal level. Last month, Altria joined Molson Coors and other mainstream companies, like Brink’s, to launch the national Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education, and Regulation. Then, this month, the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity and the Reason Foundation launched another national group called the Cannabis Freedom Alliance.
