A nonprofit advocate for marijuana has hired more than a dozen lobbyists to help pass legislation allowing states to legalize and regulate cannabis, The Hill reports.
Cannabis Trade Federation CEO Neal Levine told the Hill that the group has added 15 lobbyists to help pass the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act, which would shield states that have passed laws regulating marijuana from federal interference, and was co-authored by Sens. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, along with Reps. David Joyce, R-Ohio, and Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore.
“The STATES Act, it’s a bipartisan bill that the president has said he will sign into law," Levine said. "So it’s the one piece of legislation from our intel that we think we have a legitimate chance to pass into law that would fundamentally address all of the major issues that the cannabis industry faces today.”
Recreational marijuana has been made legal in 10 states and the District of Columbia, and medical marijuana is legal in 33 states.
“It’s no secret that the people are often ahead of the politicians on a lot of the issues that are deemed controversial,” Levine said. “When it comes to cannabis, prohibition caused way more societal harm than cannabis has itself.”
“This is all part of the cannabis industry growing up, coming into the mainstream, acting like every other industry that’s out there. This is just the natural part of our evolution,” he continued.
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