Being a part of the cannabis industry probably requires more attention to political details than any other legal, American industry. Nowhere are business owners more beholden to the whims of every level of government than cannabis, making it vital for business operators to keep up to date on city and county council races, local ordinances and statewide initiatives.
It’s not enough just to cast your ballot every fourth year when presidential election hype takes over the airwaves. With the way trends are moving, every politician in the nation is eventually going to have to take a stance one way or another on marijuana, whether they’re running for Congress or the state Legislature or a local planning commission.
And most — if not all — politicians aspire toward higher levels of office, so you never know which prohibitionist city council hopeful must be stopped before they have a chance to impact state policy.
My point is pretty simple: Get out and vote!
I have to credit (or blame) Michele Brooke for the subject of this month’s editorial. Michele is a regular contributor to Marijuana Venture who has been following the legislative wrangling in California to implement regulatory controls into the largest cannabis economy in the world. There’s no doubt California’s cannabis industry is going to go through major changes over the course of the next couple years, with or without legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes.
Ultimately, some of these changes are going to be made by the voting public and some are going to be made elected representatives. We all know the Reefer Madness crowd will be out in full force trying to persuade the politicians and public. The cannabis industry has to be even more organized, more vocal and have a better turnout rate.
“We can’t leave it in the hands of somebody else,” Michele said.
Dispensary and retail store owners have a tremendous amount of power in this industry because of the sheer number of customers and patients they see. They can also have an impact on the socio-political climate of their area by being good community members, upstanding business people and consummate advocates.
It goes hand in hand with educating politicians and the general public about cannabis. Those within the industry recognize that marijuana is not the “Devil’s Weed” it’s been portrayed as for decades. But mainstream America is only recently coming around to accept that fact. Although some battles have been won and it seems the tide of the Drug War is turning, now is not the time for the industry to rest on its laurels.
Be proactive in politics and remind other people to do the same. Encourage people to stay educated on cannabis-related topics that could affect everybody throughout the supply chain. Before casting your vote, make sure you understand the issues.
I often think back to something Greta Carter, of Cannabis Training Institute, told me in an interview last fall. Regarding business owners, she said, “if you don’t have a line item that is for government relations work, you’re being irresponsible. You need to be able to be at the forefront of trying to influence what those laws are going to be if you think you are going to be doing business in this industry.”
Remember in 2011, when former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson told Outside magazine that “pot smokers may be the largest untapped voting bloc in the country.”
Now is the perfect time to prove the “lazy pothead” stereotype wrong, and show what can be accomplished when cannabis consumers take an active role in shaping legislation that impacts their livelihood, their passion, pleasure or medicine