{"id":15933,"date":"2020-10-08T12:10:14","date_gmt":"2020-10-08T12:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=15933"},"modified":"2021-03-25T12:05:31","modified_gmt":"2021-03-25T12:05:31","slug":"pay-to-play-congressional-cannabis-caucus-and-colleagues-more-tracking-the-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2020\/10\/pay-to-play-congressional-cannabis-caucus-and-colleagues-more-tracking-the-money\/","title":{"rendered":"Pay to Play: Congressional Cannabis Caucus And Colleagues\u2014More Tracking The Money"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three months ago, National Families in Action published a report, Tracking the Money that is Legalizing Marijuana and Why It Matters<\/a>, that details where the money comes from to legalize marijuana for medical and recreational use. Most of it was raised by three billionaires and two organizations they fund, the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) and the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) to do the work of legalization. The first decade of legalization was accomplished via ballot measures which DPA and\/or MPP wrote, paid for collecting voters\u2019 signatures, and paid heavily for advertising with less than accurate information to convince voters to pass them. This effort created a medical marijuana industry that made so much money it began contributing to the legalization effort as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

In February 2017, five US Representatives formed the Congressional Cannabis Caucus to issue a spate of bills that would set the stage and then ultimately legalize marijuana at the federal level. It turns out that DPA and MPP donations to Congressional campaigns are over-represented among Caucus members and other legislators who are partnering with them to reach this goal. Together, Caucus members, pictured above, and colleagues have introduced more than 20 bills since February.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)<\/strong>, who received $3,000 from MPP, has introduced three of those bills and is co-sponsoring seven more.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO)<\/strong> received $2,000 from MPP, has introduced one bill, and co-sponsored four more.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rep. Ed Polis (D-CO)<\/strong>, the only Caucus member who has not received donations from either group, has introduced one bill and co-sponsored six more.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rep. Young (R-AK)<\/strong> received $1,000 from MPP, introduced one bill, and co-sponsored five more.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)<\/strong> received $7,000 from MPP and $4,700 from DPA, introduced one bill, and co-sponsored five more bills.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are the representatives and senators who signed on as co-sponsors of the 20-plus bills who also received donations from DPA and\/or MPP as of June 28:<\/span><\/p>\n