Apple Joins Amazon in Supporting Legal Weed – What Does It Mean for the Marijuana Industry?

Since Amazon made headlines by campaigning for the federal legalization of cannabis, several other “high profile” organizations have made similar headlines by changing their cannabis policies. One such company updated its terms last June, essentially allowing cannabis companies operating in a legal state to gain access to its platform. The company in question? Apple!

While a few people covered it, the broader gist of the story has faded from mainstream view due to the myriad instances of other “somber” news, political debate, and of course comedian witch hunts. Also, let’s not forget the prevalence of a small virus called COVI-19.

Photo by kropekk_pl via Pixabay

Officially, Apple said:

1.4.3 Apps that encourage consumption of tobacco and vape products, illegal drugs, or excessive amounts of alcohol are not permitted in the App Store. Apps that encourage minors to use these substances will be rejected. Promoting the sale of controlled substances (other than licensed dispensaries and licensed or otherwise legal cannabis dispensaries) or tobacco is not permitted.

Essentially, Apple is saying that apps dealing with the sale of cannabis in legal states will not be banned from being in their store. Unlike Google, Meta (formerly known as Facebook), and similar tech giants, Apple is opting for a more nuanced approach than Nancy Raegan’s “just say no” strategy. Considering that Apple is the most valuable company in the world, this is a big deal and will start to make a significant difference in the hearts and minds of the average American.

The future of weed

What does all this mean for cannabis in the future? If we look at Amazon, their motivation is simple: they want to sell cannabis. Or at least provide a platform where they can use their monster wing of logistics to facilitate the distribution of cannabis across the country. When you consider that 1 in 2 adults have tried cannabis in the past, it could mean billions of dollars.

Apple wants more apps in its store. The more apps available in their store, the more relevant their platform remains. The more people can find what they want in the Apple ecosystem, the less likely they are to switch to other tech solutions to solve their cannabis-related problems. Apple tends to be attuned to what consumers want, and so their decision to make a change to their Terms of Service means other companies could follow suit. When that happens, the pendulum will swing quite drastically in favor of legalization.

In the future, you will be able to use an app on your iPhone to order Hawaiian grown weed to have it delivered to your home via Amazon. In some cases, overnight delivery is possible. However, as the cannabis market continues to expand, we will simply see more choice become available.

RELATED: Another Weed Delivery App Lands in the Apple Store

Apple, Amazon, and even Facebook and Google all technically want a piece of this pie, except due to current federal restrictions, most companies don’t want to play along. That’s why companies like Amazon are funding lobbyists to make national changes to cannabis.

While I am fundamentally opposed to the idea that a private organization might be able to change laws in its favour, in this particular case it might be for the greater good.

Photo by PhotoMIX Company from Pexels

When will weed be legal?

Since the 1960’s people have been saying, “Five more years and weed will be legal”. I was onboard with that feeling for a long time, and after about the third or fifth “five more year” cycle, I personally gave up predicting when cannabis will be legally available at the federal level. Nonetheless, there seem to be strong signs that this year could be the year of major policy shifts. Whether this will benefit consumers everywhere is still up for debate.

What’s interesting is that these giant tech companies are beginning to change public opinion even more than it already has.

bottom line

Marijuana was a snowball, slowly gathering support as it rolled down the hill toward full legalization. With the addition of these big names, we can see the momentum is only picking up speed. So personally, I think there will be some major political shifts not just in the US, but across North America.

RELATED: Amazon Supports GOP’s Marijuana Legalization Act

As the world struggles to adjust to a COVID existence, the cannabis industry has made gigantic leaps even as every other industry went into recession. With more support for legalization than ever before, there is no point in maintaining the status quo that generates no additional revenue, costs taxpayers billions and doesn’t even seem to dent the international illicit drug market.

If we’ve tried to ban cannabis for the last 50+ years and have little to nothing to show for it – except maybe more drugs than ever before – maybe it’s time to do the opposite and legalize and regulate cannabis, so that it can serve society it should do.

Apple, Amazon and the NFL are all big names speaking out in favor of cannabis – let’s all put pressure on our representatives to start making national policies reflect the attitudes of the general population.

While cannabis is not good for everyone, everyone should have the fundamental right to choose whether or not to use it. Currently, that choice is not yours. Let’s hope this massive corporate support for reform gives us back our freedom of choice sooner rather than later.

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