Why is President Biden accepting cannabis donations while banning cannabis investments?

By Maureen Meehan

In response to new guidance from Avril Haines, the Biden administration’s Director of National Intelligence, stating that individuals investing in legal cannabis securities may be denied security clearances, US Cannabis Council CEO Steven Hawkins issued the following Declaration from:

“I am deeply disappointed by the Biden administration’s continued stigmatization of America’s fast-growing cannabis industry. The new guidelines represent a de facto ban on legal cannabis investments for the nearly three million Americans with active vetting clearances, not to mention hundreds of thousands of current and potential applicants.”

RELATED: Biden administration advises applicants not to invest in cannabis companies. Is there federal legalization behind it?

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Booming market creates much-needed jobs and income

“The U.S. legal cannabis market surpassed $25 billion last year and is a job creation engine that now supports approximately 430,000 American jobs. Medical cannabis is legal in 37 states plus DC, and 18 states have legalized adult use of cannabis. Additionally, an overwhelming majority of Americans now support the legalization and regulation of adult cannabis use, and support for medicinal cannabis has reached 91%. In other words, the train has left the station, and the Biden administration is quickly being left behind.”

Why is Biden accepting cannabis campaign funds?

“Director Haines’ guidance states that investing in the burgeoning cannabis securities market ‘might reflect questionable judgment and an unwillingness to comply with laws, rules and regulations.’ This is frankly insulting and wrong. It also begs the question, if President Biden thinks so, why is he so willing to accept campaign contributions from individuals in the cannabis industry?”

Campaign promises long forgotten

“During the 2020 election, President Biden pledged to decriminalize cannabis and pardon non-violent cannabis offenders and eradicate cannabis crimes. We still hope the President will deliver on those promises, but we’re disheartened by his unforced personnel blunders. A development on this topic is overdue.”

RELATED: President Biden’s SOTU speech – Another bad night for marijuana

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Let’s legalize and everyone will benefit

“We share President Biden’s commitment to advance public safety and criminal justice. Legalizing and regulating cannabis would go a long way towards both. I hope President Biden understands that criminals are the only people who benefit from the Schedule I status quo, including the gangs and cartels that fuel the nation’s estimated $65 billion black market.”

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been republished with permission.