WHAT CAN GOVERNORS DO?

Governors of states that have recently legalized (AZ, NJ) or governors who are supporting legalization efforts in their states (NY, MN, WI, VA, CT, PA, NM) can call Oregon Governor Kate Brown to inquire about an interstate compact that will help them get their state industries off the ground, providing jobs, revenues, and safe access for millions of consumers, years faster than siloed industries.

In 2019, Governor Kate Brown of Oregon signed historic legislation allowing her state to enter an interstate agreement to regulate commerce in cannabis. Governor Brown, whose state has produced cannabis for generations, understands that the future of legal cannabis is interstate, and that states can’t wait for federal legalization to create functioning, sustainable, and broadly beneficial cannabis industries.

A compact between two or more states would then go to Congress for approval, either as a stand-alone bill or as an amendment or rider to larger legislation. With multiple governors behind it, and given the implications for states rights and free markets, as well as the stated policy goals of the Democratic platform to “let states take the lead” on cannabis policy, there is every reason to believe that such a compact would gain approval.

WHAT IS AN INTERSTATE COMPACT?

Interstate compacts are agreements between states. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, for example, was created by interstate compact. The U.S. Constitution recognizes these agreements.

An interstate compact would set out the broad regulatory parameters of interstate commerce in cannabis, particularly as they concern public safety, meaning testing, tracking, and labeling. For example, multiple acceptable testing standards could be recognized in the compact, and individual states would be free to choose among them.

WHY CAN'T STATES WAIT?

As states face a COVID-related jobs crisis, with tens of millions out of work, legal cannabis is poised to bring robust and sustained economic stimulus. We just need to get the economics of our industry right. Governors are the cannabis industry’s post powerful allies — many recognized cannabis businesses as essential amid widespread economic shutdowns in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic — and in 2021 they will be looking for every opportunity to spur economic activity, investment, and JOBS. We are here to help. And it won’t require a government bailout or a handout.

Don’t fence me in

Markets are meant to efficiently move goods from where they are best produced to where there is the greatest unmet demand. Interstate commerce will allow newly legal states to get their industries up and running in months, rather than years, instantly unleashing billions in investment, rapid business formation in retail, distribution, delivery, manufacturing, product development, and a host of allied support businesses, and creating tens of thousands of jobs. In currently legal producer markets, we will see an immediate and significant increase in valuations for thousands of farms and companies, spurring new investment, expansion, and hiring as farms, processors, manufacturers, brands, and allied businesses prepare to serve vastly expanded markets.

There is perhaps no other industry in the US private sector that is poised to unleash so much economic activity, so broadly distributed, as legal cannabis. We just need to get the economics right.