Outside of this specific example, conflicts between advocates and industry interests are heating up. Legislatures across the country are seeing calls to go beyond simply legalizing a commercial cannabis market and also take steps to ensure that small businesses, people of color, women and others from communities disproportionately impacted by prohibition are not left in the dust as large companies take over the industry.
That’s partly why there was widespread condemnation after Marijuana Moment reported last month that a New York-based medical marijuana business association advocated against home cultivation in a policy statement submitted to the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D). The association, comprised of large companies like Vireo Health, Acreage, Columbia Care and, at the time, MedMen, did not directly indicate that their opposition was profit-driven, but advocates said they suspected money was at the bottom of the recommendation not to let people grow their own marijuana.
In New Hampshire, while the bill to allow home cultivation of medical cannabis advances through the legislature, lawmakers are also working to pass legislation to legalize marijuana for adult use after the full House, and then a key committee, approved the proposal.