Pubdate: Tue, 30 Sep 2014
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2014 Associated Press
Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340
Website: http://bostonglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: Kristen Wyatt, Associated Press

MARIJUANA INDUSTRY MAKES POLITICAL DONATIONS

DENVER (AP) - The entrepreneurs of the young US marijuana industry 
are taking another step into the mainstream, becoming political 
donors who use some of their profits to support cannabis-friendly 
candidates and ballot questions that could bring legal marijuana to 
more states.

The political activity includes swanky fund-raisers at Four Seasons 
hotels and art auctions at law firms. And members of Congress who 
once politely returned the industry's contribution checks are now keeping them.

"We're developing an industry here from the ground up. If we don't 
contribute politically and get out there with the candidates, we 
can't help shape what happens," said Patrick McManamon, head of 
Cleveland-based Cannasure Insurance Services, which offers insurance 
to marijuana growers and dispensaries.

Medical marijuana businesses have been giving to candidates since the 
late 1990s. With the arrival of recreational marijuana in Colorado 
and Washington, the industry and its political influence are expanding rapidly.

Marijuana is now legal for medical or recreational purposes in 23 
states and Washington, D.C. More marijuana measures will be on the 
November ballot in Oregon, Florida, Alaska, and the nation's capital, 
so many contributions are being funneled into those campaigns and the 
candidates who support them.

Compared with the donations of other industries or advocacy groups, 
the political spending by marijuana businesses is modest. But, said 
Tripp Keber, head of Denver-based Dixie Elixirs & Edibles, which 
makes marijuana-infused soda, food, and lotion, "the word is out that 
the marijuana industry has money to give."

In Washington state, the industry's contributions are channeled into 
reforms that include reducing the tax rate on marijuana and kicking 
some of the revenue back to cities and counties to encourage more 
communities to allow dispensaries, said dispensary owner John Davis, 
who also serves as director of the Coalition for Cannabis Standards and Ethics.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom