Trump Seeks Comment for International Cannabis Reform
Are The UN and European Parliament Finally Prompting White House To Shift Cannabis Policy?
Both the European Parliament and the UN have now weighed in on rescheduling and descheduling the cannabis plant and cannabis-based pharmaceuticals. Now the FDA, by the Trump Administration, is seeking comments from the general public about the same.
One of the most powerful and interesting impacts of the development of the U.S. cannabis industry since its start in Colorado on January 1, 2014, is how much it has also impacted the growth of the industry globally. That includes Canada and, of course, now Europe.
In turn, inevitably, the growth of the global industry has reflected back and itself made an impact on U.S. cannabis policy. Namely, so far, the Trump administration hasn’t been very active in helping to promote an international cannabis industry that to date, is leaving the U.S. largely out of the mix. No matter the passage of the U.S. Hemp bill (which is certainly going to open doors on the European front).
That is not expected to last for long, although it may take an odd route to fruition. And one much more tortured than just say, supporting American federal reform directly, although that might happen too. Look no further than the proposed Trump post Brexit UK trade deal for a pharma ex-im “exemption” into the UK for U.S. firms. Although that of course, thanks to Brexit, is still iffy. If that deal happens, U.S. based “pharmaceutically” licensed cannabis firms will have a direct foot in England – although how they enter the continent beyond that would still be in question.
However this is not the first time that Trump has played an international cannabis diplomatic card. See Israel. The capital of the country was moved to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv a year ago in exchange for delaying Israel’s entry into the international ex-im cannabis game.
The issue of whether cannabis reform will be on top of the ballot as a separate issue, let alone on top of the Democratic agenda in the 2020 election if the Trump Administration does not move first, is also no longer a question mark as Bernie Sanders threw his hat into the ring again and John Hickenlooper, the Colorado governor who sat astride Colorado’s state experiment announced his interest for the top job.
However, just like New Zealand, which is set to put the issue of recreational reform on its own presidential ballot the same year, the politicking around the federal discussion of the plant is likely to be a top political buzzword from now on out in the U.S., if not globally beyond that.
To get a better understanding of how American cannabis policy is shifting against a global cannabis legalization discussion within the context of recent UN and European Parliament debate on the issue, book tickets now to the International Cannabis Business Conference events throughout Europe this spring in Barcelona, Berlin and Zurich.
