Joan Oleck, Forbes.
On June 2, the megalith known as Amazon announced that it was dropping employee marijuana drug tests for its 1.3 million workers and throwing its support to the federal Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act of 2021, which would effectively legalize marijuana.
Speculation sparked almost immediately as to whether Amazon intended to augment its typical retail arena – clothes, DVDs, books everything else — with, well, pot.
That prospect threatened to scare the pants off cannabis business leaders. Leafly, the cannabis website, addressed this fear, describing “the specter of Amazon, post-legalization, eating the cannabis industry’s lunch.
Cannabis is a sophisticated product that presents unique production, storage, and logistical issues at scale. Amazon’s participation doesn’t solve those issues. The issue with cannabis is access, and not just physical access.
– Jeff Gray, Co-Founder and CEO, SC Labs
“The idea of Amazon Prime drones dropping weed on America’s front porches doesn’t just scare old-time prohibitionists,” Leafly continued: “It sends shivers through cannabis retailers, too.”
But, hold on, the site’s editor Barcott Barcott wrote: His belief is that cannabis retail armageddon isn’t actually going to happen. As evidence, he cited…