A former adviser to President-elect Donald Trump who is now a cannabis industry lobbyist says that while he feels the incoming president has established a “pathway” for federal marijuana reform in his second term, “four years is not long enough” to get to legalization enacted.
Bryan Lanza—who worked for Trump’s transition team after the 2016 election, as well as his for his 2024 campaign—spoke about various cannabis policy implications of the next administration in an extensive interview posted by Insider Cannabis last week.
During his 2024 campaign, Trump caught some by surprise when he voiced support for marijuana rescheduling and industry banking access, as well as a Florida adult-use legalization ballot initiative that ultimately failed last month.
Trump’s stated federal policy positions should guide advocacy efforts, argued Lanza, a lobbyist with Mercury Public Affairs who was hired by the U.S. Cannabis Council (USCC) to push for reform. “We have an opportunity, but I think it’s a short window,” he said.
Lanza said he’s previously spoken with Trump about several cannabis issues. And what he gleaned from those conversations is that the president-elect is “very comfortable” with allowing a federal regulatory structure for medical cannabis, he understands hemp policy issues and that he “hates” when people smoke marijuana in public.
To that end, the “pathway” that Lanza said is most realistic is to first complete rulemaking around rescheduling that was initiated under President Joe Biden. He predicted that could be finalized in February or March. However, that seems like an especially ambitious timeline given that administrative hearings are ongoing, with several days of testimony scheduled for February.
Given the president’s limited options to enact broad marijuana reform through executive action, Lanza said it’s likely that it would be up to Congress to advance banking and medical cannabis regulations, which he views as a distinct possibility. As far as ending prohibition altogether, however, he said that “four years is not long enough to accomplish all the goals we need to do in the cannabis space.”
“But I think four years is a good enough window and a good enough opportunity for us to deal with a lot of the issues President Trump talked about,” he said. “I always tell people: It’s just a matter of organizing.”
“This is the first time that we have a Republican president that has given us a pathway to what he’s comfortable with,” he said.
Lanza also said that Trump has been receptive to athletes, military veterans and older golf buddies who’ve shared with him their experiences benefitting from medical cannabis.
The lobbyist also addressed the mixed opinions on marijuana policy from the cabinet officials the president-elect has said he intends to nominate, arguing that “you don’t need everybody to agree with you and your administration to execute your vision.”
“At the end of the day, when a decision is made, he expects his team to execute,” he said. “And President Trump has made a decision where he is in this space, and it’s incumbent on those who go work for him to know that’s what he wants to execute, and they’re going to execute.”
“Are there going to be obstacles? There’s always obstacles in everything, right?” he said, adding that there are “obviously coalitions that are going to be against this” such as “Big Pharma.”
The former Trump adviser also spoke more broadly about the need for a unified front from advocates and stakeholders to maximize their ability to achieve shared goals from Congress and the administration.
“If you splinter off and you have too many different voices going in too many different directions, I guarantee you that is a recipe for failure—and it is a missed opportunity, because Trump is giving you his roadmap,” he said.
Lanza also previewed a potential merger between two associations in the cannabis sector, which he didn’t name, but said the move would mean that “you’re gonna have even a more unified front, a more unified message, but also unified resources.”
While Lanza signaled optimism about the prospect of medical cannabis and banking moving through Congress under Trump, that possibility hinges on multiple factors beyond the president’s direct control.
With Republicans controlling both the House and Senate, leadership will need to get on board and break with a longstanding tradition of conservative lawmakers resisting even modest cannabis reform.
For example, Senate Republicans last month elected a new majority leader who not only opposes legalizing marijuana but has also called for a reversal of the Biden administration’s plan to reschedule cannabis and has criticized Democrats for working to increase the industry’s access to banking services.
And while House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) future leadership status in the next Congress has recently come under question amid controversy over spending legislation, he’s another opponent of marijuana reform.
Trump certainly seems to have shown in recent weeks that he wields significant influence over the GOP caucus. But few believe he views cannabis policy issues as a top priority, so it remains to be seen whether he’d be willing to exercise that influence, at least in the short-term as he pursues a broader agenda.
A former adviser to President-elect Donald Trump who is now a cannabis industry lobbyist says that while he feels the incoming president has established a “pathway” for federal marijuana reform in his second term, “four years is not long enough” to get to legalization enacted. Bryan Lanza—who worked for Trump’s transition team after the 2016 Read More
