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Amazon Now Supports Federal Cannabis Legalization

https://www.forbes.com/sites/willyakowicz/2021/06/01/amazon-now-supports-federal-cannabis-legalization/?sh=621cbc8134a5&utm_medium=social&utm_source=ForbesMainTwitter&utm_campaign=socialflowForbesMainTwitter

The effort to legalize cannabis on the federal level won a powerful ally: e-commerce and media giant Amazon. The company announced on Monday that its public policy arm now supports a cannabis legalization bill that was reintroduced in the House late last month.

Amazon also announced that it changed its drug testing policy and the company will no longer disqualify employees for marijuana use.

In a blog post published on Tuesday, Dave Clark, the head of Amazon’s global consumer division, wrote about how the company has evolved its thinking concerning cannabis as 17 states have legalized adult-use and over 30 states allow some form of medical marijuana.

“In the past, like many employers, we’ve disqualified people from working at Amazon if they tested positive for marijuana use. However, given where state laws are moving across the U.S., we’ve changed course,” Clark wrote. “We will no longer include marijuana in our comprehensive drug screening program for any positions not regulated by the Department of Transportation, and will instead treat it the same as alcohol use.”

Clark said Amazon will continue “impairment checks” for employees on the job and will test for all drugs and alcohol after any incident.

Amazon is also taking its change of heart around cannabis to Washington. Clark said the company’s public policy team will be “actively supporting” the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2021 (MORE Act), a federal bill reintroduced to the House by Representative Jerry Nadler, a Democrat from New York and the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

The bill, which passed the House last year, would legalize cannabis federally by removing it from the Controlled Substances Act. It would also expunge criminal marijuana records and invest in communities impacted by marijuana prohibition.

“We hope that other employers will join us, and that policymakers will act swiftly to pass this law,” Clark wrote......