The 2020 election cycle brought with it sweeping changes, including more states voting to legalize marijuana.
Forty-seven out of 50 states now allow for marijuana or CBD use for medical or recreational purposes, or both, but it turns out more acceptance has brought more opportunity.
That money has come in the form of campaign contributions and gifts, in exchange for coveted licenses to sell or grow, which, in some states, can go for a whopping $17 million.
Because it’s a highly regulated industry, it’s a highly lucrative business to pick winners and losers for these public officials.
Eggers helped author a brand new report that details the extent of the corruption, with multiple pay-to-play bribery schemes, sometimes amounting to extensive charges of corruption by the FBI.
In California, the FBI charged Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman with conspiring to funnel foreign contributions into political campaigns, with the end goal of influencing marijuana licensing decisions.
In Missouri, multiple FBI investigations are underway looking into close ties between lobbyists and the marijuana industry.
In Massachusetts, Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia will stand before a judge this month, facing 24 counts, including bribery and political corruption, for “extorting hundreds of thousands of dollars from private citizens trying to set up marijuana dispensaries under state law,” according to U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling. He announced the charges at a September 2019 press conference.
Marijuana is still illegal at the federal level. But just this week, three top Democrats, Senators Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Cory Booker, D-N.J., issued a joint statement Monday, announcing they plan to introduce legislation very soon to end the drug’s federal prohibition.
This follows a similar bill passed in the House of Representatives two months ago with support from both Democrats and Republicans.
A new federal law could significantly change the game in an exploding industry that appears may be growing too fast for authorities to keep up.
