Industry and activists urge western governors to explore the international cannabis trade

A group representing cannabis companies and activists is calling on the governors of four western states to review federal permits for the interstate trade in cannabis, a move that could help pave the way for eventual national legalization of cannabis .

In a letter posted online, the Alliance for Sensible Markets urged the governors of California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington to seek advice from the US Department of Justice on how the government would react if two or more states with legal medical or adult use of marijuana decided to regulate the cannabis trade across their national borders. The letter suggests that the federal legalization of cannabis, which now seems inevitable, will provide an economic opportunity for cannabis-producing states in the west.

“If the federal government legalizes cannabis, the US Constitution’s trade clause guarantees that producers in our four states have non-discriminatory access to every legal market for adult use and the medical market in the country,” the letter said. “It will be worth billions of dollars to the economies of our states annually, will increase government revenues and investment, expansion, business creation and jobs and, if it happens soon, could save thousands of small farms and businesses from extinction.”

The Alliance for Sensible Markets is a Portland, Oregon-based coalition of cannabis activists and producers, including the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), the Washington Sun and Craft Growers Association, the Weed for Warriors Project, and Colorado Cannabis Association of Manufacturers. The group, founded last year, works to connect cannabis-producing and consuming countries in regulated international trade.

Interstate trade should set the stage for a national cannabis industry

Coupled with federal policies that would allow state cannabis companies to operate without interference, the interstate cannabis trade could be a more politically viable way to achieve many of the goals of full legalization. Adam Smith, the founder and president of the Alliance for Sensible Markets, believes the international cannabis trade can connect consumers in new legal markets with western cannabis producers whose wholesale prices have recently fallen.

“Thousands of small farms and businesses across the Pacific Northwest in communities that have relied on cannabis economics for generations are facing economic disaster as they are suffocating from an abundance of some of the best and most efficiently produced cannabis strains in the world,” Smith wrote in an email to the High Times. “This is not an oversupply problem, but a market access problem. Meanwhile, millions of patients and consumers in legal states where cannabis is expensive and environmentally friendly to grow will be stuck in illegal markets for years, and thousands of potential retail, distribution, delivery and other businesses will be stuck on the sidelines and on a stable basis However, limited and overpriced supply chains are emerging in their countries. “

The group claims that the current system of regulated cannabis trade, in which each state that has legalized marijuana operates its own market for production, manufacture, distribution and sale, is unsustainable. By seeking advice from the federal government now, rather than waiting for national legalization, the coalition is hoping to create a more sustainable cannabis industry that better serves the needs of all stakeholders.

“We believe that asking this simple question will significantly advance the national debate about the future of legal cannabis, and that positive guidance from the DOJ will spark changes that will benefit both producer and consumer nations, as well as patients, consumers and the general public in terms of safety , social justice, small business and environmental sustainability in all rule of law or medical states that choose to regulate and engage trade before federal legalization, ”concludes the letter.

Smith says California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, four states that pioneered the cannabis legalization movement, are in a unique position to help shape national policy with federal regulators.

“Federal legalization will open markets, but waiting for the federal government to ‘fix’ cannabis has never been a successful strategy,” said Smith. “It was always the states that took the lead in reform. Positive guidance from the DOJ will pave the way for a more rational, equitable, and sustainable industry now in states that choose to participate in trade. “

The Alliance for Sensible Markets is currently encouraging additional cannabis users, corporations, and other interested parties to sign the letter and plan to deliver it to the four western governors next month.