OP-ED: The U.S. Cannabis Industry Exposed

Last week on Wednesday, August 17, 2022, the U.S. cannabis industry was exposed. Exposed for what exactly?

The Association for Cannabis Health Equity and Medicine (ACHEM) officially resigned from the U.S. Cannabis Council (USCC) along with a statement that essentially rips the industry’s most prominent stakeholders for putting their hearts, minds, and pockets into the wrong place.

In the open letter, ACHEM President Ogadinma Obie, MD, reiterated why ACHEM joined USCC in the first place and explains why the departure.

“ACHEM joined USCC in early 2021 as a member of the organization’s executive council, encouraged by USCC’s stated commitment to make social equity a central focus of the organization’s endeavor to drive federal cannabis policy reform,” Obie writes.

“Since joining, however, ACHEM has recognized the increasing influence of corporate cannabis priorities over the council that has continually overshadowed or siloed equity-focused recommendations.”

If you’ve been following the cannabis industry for the past few years, none of this should be a surprise. The industry is already broken, full of money-whores and cut-throat investors. Many of these greedy monsters once championed prohibition, and now they’re controlling the industry and shutting out others from participation.

“USCC’s focus on short-term corporate and institution interests has hindered its ability to advance comprehensive and equitable cannabis policy reform. We are afraid the organization has strayed from its founding principles.

“ACHEM cannot in good conscience maintain our membership in USCC when its current positions no longer align with efforts to make cannabis legalization first and foremost inclusive and equitable so that everyone in the United States, particularly those most harmed by cannabis prohibition, can holistically benefit from the nascent industry.”

When legalization goes from “Hey, people have a right to this plant,” to “Let’s design the cannabis industry to shut people out and make as much money as possible,” you know you have a problem.

In fact, this ravaging of the cannabis industry while still in a nascent phase is the perfect microcosm for many of the world’s problems today, where everything is ruined by greedy psychopaths.

The letter continues: “Although ACHEM appreciates its time as a founding member of USCC and its role as a change agent within the organization, we have not seen the level of attention or positive change surrounding equity and proper medical policy that we expected from the organization’s initiatives and lobbying.”

ACHEM’s resignation from the USCC along with the open letter are entirely heroic, and the cannabis world needs more of this. We need more people and organizations standing up against the destructive tyranny of the MSOgang.

You know why it doesn’t happen? Because mainstream journalists don’t know enough about cannabis or the industry to call people out on their hypocrisy and their steaming piles of bullshit. This is one of the fastest growing industries in the U.S. and journalistic overwatch is largely failing due to all those cannabis knowledge gaps.

“ACHEM will continue to fight for health equity in the cannabis industry through its internal efforts and alongside like-minded organizations. In the future, we hope that USCC will fully embrace the guiding principles that made it so promising when we joined. The industry needs leadership committed to righting the wrongs of the past to build a healthy and prosperous community for everyone, not just the privileged and powerful.”

The cannabis industry is supposed to be better than this. It’s supposed to be a paradigm for all other industries, guided by the lessons that this plant teaches us. Most of the bad eggs in the industry probably don’t even have a relationship with the plant. They’re too obsessed with money, greed, and power.

Instead of building a paradigm industry, it’s just more big business, stomping on throats to maintain total control. The ironic thing is many of these large businesses are failing miserably, which only encourages them in their oppressive ways.

There’s no need to accept any of this. All these idiot dipshits are in power because we let them have that power. Why should rich people get to make all the rules and decide everything? Fuck that.

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