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The cannabis industry set a record in its annual spending on Washington lobbying last year, with its outlay of $5.43 million.
That’s according to an analysis of disclosures by OpenSecrets, which rounded up data from 20 top industry players, including companies such as Canopy Growth Corp.
CGC,
and Cronos Group Inc.
CRON,
and trade associations like the National Cannabis Roundtable.
The 2022 lobbying spending came in just slightly above the prior record annual level of $5.22 million for 2021.
Last year’s outlays to influence policymakers and regulators were made as the industry had hits and misses in Washington, D.C.
President Joe Biden announced in October that he will pardon all prior federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana, and he asked U.S. agencies to review how the drug is classified under U.S. law.
In addition, the president in November signed into law the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act, after that measure had become the first standalone cannabis reform bill to pass both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.
On the other hand, the Senate again failed to advance the SAFE Banking Act, a much-discussed bill that aims to protect financial institutions
KBE,
that work with the marijuana industry.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican, emphasized in December that he didn’t support year-end efforts to pass the cannabis banking measure, which he said had to do with “making our financial system more sympathetic to illegal drugs.”
Related: 401(k) changes in, cannabis banking out: Here are the details of the big year-end spending package
While the cannabis industry’s lobbying spending keeps growing, the sums involved fall well short of lobbying spending by bigger Washington players. Amazon.com Inc.
AMZN,
and its subsidiaries, for example, paid out $21.38 million in 2022, according to an analysis by OpenSecrets, which is a research group tracking money in U.S. politics.
Read more: Amazon, Apple, Microsoft set records with their spending on Washington lobbying
Marijuana stocks, as tracked by the AdvisorShares Pure U.S. Cannabis ETF
MSOS,
have lost 70% over the past 12 months, while the SP 500 stock benchmark
SPX,
has shed 11%.
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