The e-commerce and technology giant announced its support for marijuana legalization across the US.
WASHINGTON — Amazon Inc., the Seattle, Wash., and Arlington, Va.-headquartered e-commerce giant, announced that it would support the national efforts to legalize marijuana in the US.
“We are enthused by the notable momentum in the country toward recognizing that today’s status quo is unfair and untenable,” announced Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice president of human resources, in a post to the company’s blog. “We look forward to working with Congress and other supporters to secure necessary reform of the nation’s cannabis laws.”
This announcement comes months after Amazon said that it would exclude marijuana from its pre-employment drug screening program for its unregulated positions. According to the company, regulated job positions are ones regulated by the federal Department of Transportation like commercial truck drivers.
Amazon said it also reinstated the eligibility for former employees and applicants who were “previously terminated or deferred during random or pre-employment marijuana screenigns.”
“Pre-employment marijuana testing has disproportionately affected communities of color by stalling job placement and, by extension, economic growth, and we believe this inequitable treatment is unacceptable,” Galetti said in the post. “That’s why we strongly believe the time has come to reform the nation’s cannabis policy, and we are committed to helping lead the effort.”
This news applies to the vaping industry. The massive support for legalization from a global corporate powerhouse like Amazon could further liberalize and expand the market growth of marijuana and cannabis-based vaping products.
With the US public health establishment’s obsession with youth vaping, the regulatory uncertainty of nicotine-based vaping products could present an opportunity for the industry to eventually adopt a position that places THC and CBD vapes above other nicotine-containing brands.
While it is impractical to say that all vaping in the US is to be banned, the truth of the matter is that smaller vape companies are being placed at a disadvantage due to the Food and Drug Administration and the patchwork of state laws.
However, the effort to back marijuana legalization and eventual commercialization could provide a multifaceted case for reopening the wider vaping industry to serve not only nicotine consumers but those interested in marijuana and CBD vape products.
Amazon’s political position could be a harbinger of large multinational companies further supporting liberalization at an even grander scale.
This development will be watched closely by Vaping Post.
