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Until last week, the US cannabis sector was wondering what to expect from the then-upcoming presidential elections, as both main candidates dragged decriminalisation into the race, and cannabis legalisation was on the ballot in several states.
Both the Democratic and the Republican candidates had made promises or pledges to the industry in their campaigns, with Kamala Harris going as far as depicting cannabis decriminalisation as the foundation for the creation of a market based on equal business opportunities.
As the election outcome is no longer unknown, along with the Democrats’ debacle, it is not yet clear whether president-elect Donald Trump’s victory is bad news for the cannabis sector.
His well-known unpredictability, which can see him straying from his party’s main paths, along with a predilection for deregulation in several fields, may actually turn him into a better option than his defeated rival, even for cannabis businesses.
A better pick for everything but cannabis?
At the end of October, a YouGov survey showed cannabis as one of only three industries Americans believed would do better under a Harris presidency than under Trump.
Based on the poll, which focused on 20 industries, 45% of Americans thought the cannabis business would be better off under Harris, while only 16% believed Trump would be a better pick for it.
Trump, though, was believed to be a potentially better option than his competitor for the remaining 17 industries, which says a lot about what American voters think about the possible impact of his presidency on the US economy.
Can the same optimism over a Republican leadership being beneficial to US industries in general be extended to the cannabis sector, and could this positive approach be backed up by facts?
Social media promises
While campaigning, Harris made her stance in favour of cannabis legalisation, both at a state and federal level, crystal clear on several occasions, including media interviews, and she even blamed the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for the bureaucratic delays in implementing a previously announced reclassification of marijuana to a less strict schedule.
Trump was less insistent. He did, however, express his support for all the crucial changes the US cannabis sector was anticipating.
In September, the now president-elect wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, that he believed it was time “to end needless arrests and incarcerations of adults for small amounts of marijuana for personal use” and referred to the need for “smart regulations” providing adults with access to “safe, tested products”.
Supporting states’ rights
In the same social media post, Trump endorsed the legalisation ballot initiative in Florida, where he votes, which then ended up failing, saying he would support other states’ “rights to pass marijuana laws”.
He endorsed the rescheduling of marijuana, which, he said, would “unlock the medical uses” of cannabis and, more important, said he would work with Congress to pass “common sense laws” such as the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, which prevents banks from being penalised for serving legitimate cannabis businesses.
Will the next US president keep the promises he made on a social media post? If he does, the country’s cannabis industry may end up being boosted under his presidency, more than it has been by the current administration.
Only time will tell if this is a plausible hope or just wishful thinking.
– Tiziana Cauli CannIntelligence staff
Photo: kalhh
