🎭 Pride and Shame

Following the progression of the cannabis industry is an exercise in patience; we seem to make meaningful progress on a few key issues, then we have a widely-publicized, glaring, egregious, shameful error.

Let’s dig in to some examples!

🕵️ Freeze! FBI

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, a notoriously strict employer, has loosened cannabis use restrictions for fresh agents.

“Candidates cannot have used marijuana or cannabis in any form (natural or synthetic) and in any location (domestic or foreign) within the one (1) year preceding the date of their application for employment,” FBI’s newly updated job site says.

As recently as May 30, the site read: “Candidates cannot have used marijuana within the three (3) years preceding the date of their application for employment, regardless of the location of use (even if marijuana usage is legal in the candidate’s home state).”

It’s a step - a small one, but still a step - in the right direction.

Interesting tidbit: James Comey mentioned the antiquated policy back in 2014, when he realized that he was passing over a plethora of skilled workers due to cannabis use:

While Comey mentioned how limiting the policy was in specific relation to cybersecurity, his realization was more broad: lots of normal, highly-intelligent people consume cannabis; why limit the employment pool?

🎰 The Silver State’s Superior Stance

The Nevada state Athletic Commission voted to remove cannabis as a banned “performance-enhancing” drug - since the NSAC regulates combat sports in the state, this move means that boxers and UFC fighters can freely partake as much as they’d like.

1) This is reasonable policy. Cannabis doesn’t make you a better fighter. It’s more like Advil than anything.

2) This came a little late. Nick Diaz (Nate’s brother) once failed a post-bout drug test for cannabis, and received a five year ban. Another fighter also failed a drug test - for steroids - and received one year. Just another notch in the ridiculously-overbearing cannabis policy belt.

📲 There’s an app for that.

My favorite recent news: Apple is chilling out about hosting apps on which users can order cannabis.

Previously, the policy read: 

The new policy now reads:

Cool, right?

Jane, our retail partners, our brand partners, and anyone else who works in cannatech should welcome this news; owning a little piece of your customers’ cellular real estate is the holy grail of engagement and stickiness. Congrats to Eaze for being first to market on the app store; many more to come.

🤦🏻‍♂️ And now - the shame

Sha’Carri Richardson is an American athlete that was favored to win the 100m dash at the Tokyo Olympics. Worked her whole life for this moment.

Then, her biological mother died and she smoked a little pot to cope. She tested positive for cannabis, got a 30-day suspension, and now won’t be able to represent our country on the world’s biggest athletic stage.

Here are the stupid reasons, from the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA):

1. “Athletes who smoke cannabis or Spice in competition potentially endanger themselves and others because of increased risk taking, slower reaction times and poor executive function or decision making.”

2. “Based on current animal and human studies as well as on interviews with athletes and information from the field, cannabis can be performance enhancing for some athletes and sports disciplines.”

3. “Use of illicit drugs that are harmful to health and that may have performance-enhancing properties is not consistent with the athlete as a role model for young people around the world.”

A few steps forward, and one back.

📚 tl;dr

• The FBI will hire you if you smoked weed 13 months ago

• The Nevada state Athletic Commission doesn’t care if you partake

• Apple is allowing legal ordering in the app store

• We should all be outraged by Sha’Carri’s absence

• A few steps forward, one back - that’s the cannabis industry way

• Today is Friday (sorry I’m late, I got sick)