Amazon's drone-delivered marijuana could soon be in American homes. The online retail giant recently announced on its website that it has made changes and stopped testing employees for THC. We also learned that the company will actively support the federal MORE Act, which is expected to legalize marijuana at the state level. Will the next step be the introduction of marijuana into Amazon's offerings? All signs point to it.
Amazon is changing its policy toward cannabis
In early June, Amazon's website featured a statement issued by Dave Clark, CEO of its Worldwide Consumer division, which reads, among other things:
"In the past, like many employers, we have excluded employees who have tested positive for cannabis use from working at Amazon. However, given that the United States has state laws, we have changed course. We will no longer include marijuana in our comprehensive drug screening program for positions not regulated by the DOT, and will instead treat it the same as alcohol use. We will continue to screen for impairment at work and will test for all drugs and alcohol after every incident."
In addition, Amazon executives have decided to actively support the passage of the MORE law, which legalizes cannabis at the federal level.
"Because we know this problem is bigger than Amazon, our public policy team will actively support The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2021. (MORE Act) - federal legislation that would legalize marijuana at the federal level, erase criminal records and allow cannabis funds to be invested in affected communities. We hope that other employers will join us and that policymakers will move quickly to pass this legislation."
Amazon's cannabis soon in American homes?
So far, Amazon has not announced its entry into the cannabis industry. However, both we and most experts and observers of the cannabis market indicate that the giant's entry into the cannabis world is only a matter of time... and a change in federal law.
Cannabis is a billion-dollar market, and Jeff Bezos is well aware of that. With such a powerful sales and distribution network, Amazon entering the cannabis industry could immediately gain a strong position in the market.
Many commentators fear that Amazon's entry into the cannabis industry could spoil it just as it happened with the book industry. However, it should be remembered that stimulants are not books and are governed by quite different laws of the market. When Amazon entered the liquor business, there were also fears that now the spirit industry would completely change (like the aforementioned book business, for example). However, this has not happened. This is due to a number of aspects from the law to customer preferences for products as well as the very way they are purchased. In our opinion, it will be the same with the cannabis industry, where Amazon will become a cannabis "McDonald's," meaning fast and cheap, but not necessarily good quality. Time will tell.
