Amazon lobbies US government on cannabis, report says

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In a first for the company, e-commerce behemoth Amazon lobbied the U.S. government on cannabis policy during the second quarter of this year, Business Insider reported.

The report did not detail exactly which aspects of cannabis policy were the focus of Amazon’s recent lobbying activity.

However, Seattle-headquartered Amazon announced in June that it would actively support the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2021 (MORE Act).

At the same time, Amazon announced it would stop screening employees in many positions for cannabis usage.

A total of 167 groups undertook cannabis-related lobbying in the second quarter of 2021, according to Business Insider, up from 162 during the same quarter last year.

According to a separate report this week from political news outlet Politico, “a number of advocacy and industry groups, including Drug Policy Alliance, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and Canopy Growth Inc., have reported meeting with Amazon officials in the past month to discuss federal marijuana policy.”