The unorthodox choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. by President Donald Trump to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was finalized on Thursday, when the full Senate voted 52-48 to confirm him, installing a potential major ally of cannabis legalization in the president’s inner circle.
While stakeholders have been keeping their fingers crossed in recent weeks that Trump will hold to his campaign promise to finish federal cannabis rescheduling and support other reforms, such as banking access for legal marijuana companies, those hopes have been thrown into doubt with the nominations of several anti-cannabis officials at the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Justice.
Kennedy, by contrast, has a lengthy history of supporting marijuana legalization, a history that was not lost on the U.S. cannabis industry.
Several trade organizations celebrated his confirmation, and said they look forward to working with the new secretary.
“Mr. Kennedy has publicly supported legalizing marijuana in the past and, more recently, has expressed that he will follow the science on this topic. The agency he will soon be in charge of has clearly stated that marijuana should be rescheduled and does not belong in Schedule I,” Michelle Rutter Friberg, government relations chief for the National Cannabis Industry Association, wrote in an email. “We look forward to working with HHS alongside other relevant agencies to ensure that President Trump’s campaign promise of marijuana reform is a promise made and a promise kept.”
“RFK Jr.’s views on cannabis are well known, and during the confirmation process, he stated that he would follow the science on marijuana,” Michael Bronstein, president of the American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp (ATACH) said in an email. “Any science-based conclusion — upon which the scheduling process is founded — would logically lead to either full de-scheduling or, at the very least, a reclassification to Schedule III, which is currently under federal consideration.”
“We congratulate Secretary Kennedy on his confirmation. He has a long history of supporting cannabis legalization, and we look forward to working with him and his colleagues in the Trump Administration to move our nation forward,” David Mangone, spokesman for the United States Cannabis Roundtable, said in an emailed statement.
“RFK being confirmed demonstrates that the American perspective on ‘health’ is shifting to a less conventional and more exploratory mindset. Cannabis sits squarely in the middle of this shift in the health zeitgeist. Tired of pharmaceutical regimes that require a lifelong dependency, accompanied by a litany of side effects, people are choosing to explore cannabis and other wellness avenues. Data shows that in states where cannabis is legalized, opioid addiction declines,” Emily Paxhia, managing director of Poseidon Asset Management, said in an email.
She added: “Cannabis isn’t for everyone, but it seems that people are no longer accepting the status quo of what is being prescribed. Freedom of choice and freedom to determine a better, healthier lifestyle is an aspect of the new American dream.”
[[{“value”:”Several cannabis trade organizations celebrated Kennedy’s confirmation.
The post RFK Jr. confirmation puts potential cannabis ally in Trump cabinet appeared first on Green Market Report.”}]] Read More
