It was the first time since 1975 that the number of people who supported ending marijuana prohibition in the U.S. was higher than those who didn’t.

So what happened? Ronald Reagan, that’s what.

Okay, that’s not entirely accurate. The guy wasn’t solely responsible for systematically changing the opinions of a large swath of the population.

But it does turn out that the person (or facsimile thereof, depending on the year) sitting in the Oval Office affects marijuana attitudes in the United States.

Are We Merely a Bunch of Lemmings?

Some more than others, certainly. But it’s not as simple as folks just blindly abiding by what the Commander-in-Chief espouses.

Findings from a study published last month in the journal Deviant Behavior indicate that “confidence in the executive branch, fear of crime, and presidential drug rhetoric predict attitudes toward legalization despite controls for other factors such as estimated levels of marijuana use and arrests.”

Presidential drug rhetoric. That was certainly a big one for President Reagan. Remember the whole “Just Say No” campaign?

While the findings of the study showed that lowest support for legalization was during President Reagan’s service, support faltered during President Bush the Elder’s reign as well (1989-1993).

This was during the the crack-cocaine drug panic though – which some argue was a result of President Reagan’s anti-drug rhetoric. Whatever the case, the odds of the public favoring legalization decreased by about 27% during that time.

Enter President Clinton in 1993, and there was a steady increase in attitudes favoring legalization. No big surprise.

All of this begs the question – just how much influence did or do they have?

The Research on Marijuana Attitudes

The study’s authors set out to find how often presidents talked about cannabis and illicit drugs during the years spanning from 1972 – 2016.

They used data from the General Social Survey to gauge Americans’ opinions on legalizing cannabis during those years, including State of the Union addresses and executive orders.

Working with a number of variables and control measures, they conducted a multi-level model analysis in order to consider how context changed over time.

Researchers found that “each annual percent increase in State of the Union words about drugs predicts a decreased odds of favoring legalization of about 6%.”

Plus, feeling good about who’s at the helm – regardless of what he (or someday she) is saying – also affects attitudes on legalizing marijuana. The study found that the odds of their supporting legalization actually fell about 29% when they were confident in the goings on in the executive branch.

Interestingly enough though, they found that when a Republican is president, each increase in confidence leads to decreased odds of favoring legalization of around 36%.

But when there’s a Democrat in the office, the decreased odds were reduced to 24%.

How Does the Current President Rate?

That depends on whom you ask and in regards to what. But we aren’t opening that can of worms.

In terms of attitudes toward cannabis though, President Trump has been relatively hands-off and has maintained that marijuana policy is a states issue. Which doesn’t bode well for ending federal prohibition while he’s in office. Or on the golf course.

But whatever the case, general attitudes have varied quite a bit over time. And so has the presidential rhetoric about marijuana. That’s unlikely to change.

Plus, there’s a good chance that folks are finally questioning the gateway-drug-devil’s-weed-reefer-madness fear-mongering connected with marijuana for so long.

And that’s bound to change attitudes as well – regardless of who’s in office.

Some Attitudes Never Change

As cannabis marketing specialists, we maintain a steady and solid pro-cannabis stance. Our marijuana attitudes are unwavering.

And we work hard to ensure the success of cannabis businesses. Contact us today to see what we can do for you.

The post How the Sitting President Affects Marijuana Attitudes appeared first on GROW Cannabis Marketing.

Those days are over. Why?

Come on. We all know why. There’s money to be made. BIG money.

The lure of the promise of huge profits has many Republicans now embracing marijuana. And those who once cursed the evil effects of Mary Jane have now become lobbyists, consultants, attorneys and entrepreneurs in this burgeoning market.

It is indeed the dawn of a new kind of hypocrisy.

Just A Few of the Many Republicans Now Embracing Marijuana

We won’t bog you down with too many politicians. Nobody wants that. But let’s take a look at a few players on both the state and national level.

Eileen and Mike Kowall

Two potheads are better than one.

Okay, they’re not potheads. But it was interesting how quickly former state House Representative Eileen Kowall, a White Lake Republican, became a lobbyist.

In fact, it was less than two months after term limits pushed her out of the Legislature back in 2015 that she registered as a lobbyist and signed a consulting contract with Michigan Green Technologies. According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, she received a cool $15,300 worth of shares from Cannabis Science, a Colorado-based company tied to Michigan Green Technologies.

Okay. Fine. But records show that the shares were later returned in December of 2015 and Kowall resigned her services due to “conflict of interest.”

Meanwhile, her husband, Senate Majority Floor Leader Mike Kowall – also a Republican – revived marijuana bills and shepherded them through the Legislature. Not surprisingly, the president of Michigan Green Technologies donated $400 to Senator Kowall in November 2015.

Mike Callton

Back in November (a mere five months ago), former state Representative Mike Callton opposed the November ballot initiative that would legalize recreational marijuana.

So it’s a little… strange… that he now brands himself the state’s “premier consultant” for legal marijuana. In fact, he’s even encouraging municipalities to open their doors to cannabis shops and commercial growers.

Claiming that he’s one of those rare politicians that works for the voters and not the other way around, he claims that he’s just going with it because it’s what people wanted.

Yep. That, and he’s found there’s a lot of money to be made by helping businesses get approval from Lansing to operate medical dispensaries and grow houses.

Never mind that he says he’d never “touch” the stuff himself.

Rick Jones and Klint Kesto

Just a mere ten years ago, it would have been hard to imagine any Republicans fighting hard for the cannabis industry.

But in the Michigan Legislature, Klint Kesto has become a darling of the medical marijuana industry and have even sponsored some of the bills. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that he’s collected at least $13,900 in campaign contributions from cannabis interests between 2015 and 2016.

Kesto’s Republican counterpart in the House, Rick Jones, also received some hefty funds from the medical marijuana industry. Over $16,000. Jones is all about advancing pro-cannabis legislation – despite the fact that in 2010 he led an effort to ban “marjuana clubs” which were designed to make medical cannabis more readily available.

Hmmmmmm.

John Boehner

Moving out of the Michigan and into the national spotlight, we have our pal John Boehner.

During his tenure of Speaker of the House, Boehner was “unalterably opposed” to cannabis reform. It would seem he has a different definition of unalterably when it comes to big money.

He calls it a change of heart – claiming that talking with American veterans about how cannabis has helped them with PTSD and other ailments shifted his view.

Not that his longtime political connections, his position on the board of Acreage Holdings and the reality that he’s netting some serious cash has anything to do with this change of heart, right?

That’s some rather bitter medicine to swallow. Or smoke, for that matter.

The Cannabis Industry Continues to Thrive

Yes, it’s “nice” that legalizing marijuana has become a bipartisan issue. It would be nicer if the shared interest with the many Republicans now embracing marijuana were more ideological and less capitalistic.

But so be it.

As cannabis business marketing specialists for many years now, we’re just pleased to see the industry making headway. Where it goes from here, we can only guess.

For more articles relating to the cannabis industry, keep checking back with our blog. We’ll keep you updated.

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Which, like the mass majority of Trump’s choices, leaves many of us feeling…dubious.

While William Barr doesn’t (at least outwardly) profess that “good people” don’t smoke marijuana, his track record indicates he’s long been a fan of increased incarceration as a means to reduce violent crime.

And analysts, observers and just plain folks are looking into to this to gain some insight on where he’ll potentially stand on drug policy.

Is William Barr a Poor Choice?

As usual, nothing is certain in Trump’s White House (of Cards).

And while Michael Collins, director of national drug affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance, was certainly happy to see Sessions go, he thinks Trump’s nominee is worse than just a poor choice:

It’s hard to imagine an Attorney General as bad as Jeff Sessions when it comes to criminal justice and the drug war, but Trump seems to have found one. The vast majority of Americans believe the war on drugs needs to be replaced with a health-centered approach. It is critically important that the next Attorney General be committed to defending basic rights and moving away from failed drug war policies. William Barr is a disastrous choice.

Collins also believes that nominating Barr totally undermines Trump’s recent endorsement of sentencing reform.

And he could be right.

More Prisons, Jails, Courts and Prosecutors

This was H.W. Bush’s rally cry and, in his mind, the best way to combat drug use. So he subsequently increased the federal drug control budget to achieve that goal.

And William Barr, who just so happened to serve under H.W. Bush, shared in this rhetoric. In 1992, Barr sanctioned a report and stated the following:

Ask many politicians, newspaper editors, or criminal justice “experts” about our prisons, and you will hear that our problem is that we put too many people in prison. The truth, however, is to the contrary; we are incarcerating too few criminals, and the public is suffering as a result.

But that was 1992. So can we cut the guy some slack? Besides, drug policy today is a different animal than it was back then.

A Lot Can Change in 26 Years

Perhaps. But in 2015, Barr was still defending the current criminal justice system—including mandatory minimum sentences—and actively encouraged Congress to not bring up a sentencing reform bill.

This is not the time for Congress to disrupt a sentencing regime that strikes the right balance between all interests and has contributed to significant gains in reducing crime. We urge Congress to await the results of the significant federal sentencing initiatives that are already underway and to rigorously assess their impact before opening the doors of our federal prisons further through proposals like the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act.

Still, we can only speculate at this point. Because we have no idea how Barr, if confirmed by the Senate, will navigate conflicting state and federal marijuana laws.

And since Sessions moved this earlier to this year to rescind the so-called Cole memo that provided guidance on federal cannabis enforcement, Barr could inherit a Justice Department that no longer operates under the Obama-era policy of general non-intervention.

It’s also a department where his daughter, Mary Daly, works. As director of opioid enforcement and prevention efforts, she’s established herself as an advocate for tougher criminal enforcement aimed at driving out the opioid epidemic. Irrelevant? Maybe.

But the apple obviously doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Stay on Top of the Latest

If you own a cannabis business then you know that staying informed is crucial to your success. So keep checking back with our blog.

Incorporating the most effective cannabis marketing strategies is also critical. So contact us today to be sure that you’re doing what needs to be done to stay out ahead.

The post What Will Be William Barr’s Take on Drug Policy? appeared first on GROW Cannabis Marketing.

Why is this a big deal? Well, Boehner once claimed to be “unalterably opposed” to the idea of legalizing marijuana. It appears, with this new role, that his stance has been altered. This could be because the public’s collective opinion on marijuana and its legalization has changed so much in the near-decade since Boehner made that comment, or it could be that he has learned more about the benefits of marijuana and the damage that has been inflicted on the public with marijuana still scheduled as a Class 1 drug.

More than likely, however, it is a combination of both of these reasons, with Boehner saying, in an interview, “Over the last 10 or 15 years, the American people’s attitudes have changed dramatically… I find myself in that same position.” Boehner also tweeted, “I’m convinced de-scheduling the drug is needed so we can do research, help our veterans, and reverse the opioid epidemic ravaging our communities.” In her Bloomberg article, Kaplan also says Boehner’s perspective shifted, “after he saw the plant’s efficacy in helping a close friend deal with debilitating back pain. Marijuana’s potential use as a treatment for veterans helped sway him, too.”

While the benefit of having a politician as well-known as Boehner on the side of legalization is clear, the fact that he was formerly so adamantly against marijuana makes it even more of a watershed moment. After all, if someone like Boehner can come around on this hot-button issue in such a relatively short period of time, think of how many others –politicians and otherwise – will come around as well.

Image courtesy of Gage Skidmore.

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