Let’s face it: we’ve got a problem. On one hand, prohibitionists paint us as drug pushers looking to dope their children. On the other, activists fear an oligarchical takeover by large corporations wielding insider political influence in their favor. Meanwhile, no one is making much of a profit, consumers are left with high prices and patchwork access, and federal reform lags on. Maybe it’s time to re-examine ourselves and see where we—the industry—have gone wrong.
The Alcohol and Tobacco Trap
The alcohol and tobacco industries have a long-standing history of deceiving the public and sowing mistrust. They also have a reputation for going after your kids. The government’s perspective is a mixture of shaping public opinion and reflecting it. When it comes to something controversial like cannabis, the feds are less likely to go with logic and more likely to side with public opinion.
From Pew Research in 2022, 88% of Americans favored the legalization of medical cannabis with 59% favoring both recreational and medical. However, when we investigate the politics of that 59%, only 37% of conservative-leaning Americans favored legalizing recreational use. With a GOP White House, Congress, and Supreme Court that just won the popular vote for the first time since 2004, it’s reasonable to assume the administration is going to be more open to a conservative model.
In the court of public opinion, comparing us to alcohol and tobacco is a losing strategy. These industries claim the lives of over 500,000 people annually—about 480,0000 from tobacco and 180,0000 from alcohol, respectively. Still, their market domination is staggering: 92.62% for top alcohol brands and 83.5% for big tobacco in the US. This concentration stifles innovation and limits consumer choice.
When we position cannabis as a “less harmful vice,” we evoke these negative associations. It unites unlikely allies—prohibitionists and industry insiders—against progress. This positioning is shortsighted and politically unsavory, forcing politicians to side with industries known to betray the public’s trust.
In the era of MAHA—Make America Healthy Again—and a demand for radical transparency, being the new A&T will immediately sound alarm bells. In other words, this emphasis makes it more difficult for politicians to glom onto.
Returning to a Natural State
Up until the early 20th century, cannabis was a staple in our agricultural and medicinal industries. In 1906, the Pure Drug and Food Act required manufacturers and retailers to list ingredients clearly on their labeling, including cannabis. The Act also declared cannabis and other plants like tobacco and opium as dangerous. It’s the first time in U.S. history we saw cannabis grouped with these plants, but this act paved the way for later reforms like the Controlled Substances Act of 1970.
The congressional Flexner Report of 1910 aimed to standardize medicine to be more in line with scientific rigor versus traditional practices. The report saw the complexity of plant medicines and holistic care to be incompatible with this goal. The result was a systematic removal of alternative medical practices from medical school’s curriculums, including herbalism and homeopathy. From that point until the 1937 Marjuana Tax Act, there was a systematic dismantling of plant-based medicines in favor of synthesized, petrochemical-based medicines.
Going back to plants means going back to a state of wellness, but with a twist! Unlike in the early 1900s, we now have the scientific understanding and technological advances to properly assess and integrate plant medicine back into our healthcare. Cannabis is the linchpin because of its rich chemical diversity, multifunctional application, and widespread commercial demand. The data support this:
- Daily cannabis users are three times more likely to have underlying health conditions (NIH, 2016).
- 91% of consumers use cannabis for health and wellness reasons (Harris Poll, 2022).
- States with legal cannabis see decreased opioid prescriptions (NIH, 2023).
A New Regulatory Approach
While pharmaceuticals have their share of faults, they too have their place. We do not need to repeat the same mistakes and throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. What we need is a complimentary approach that confirms botanical medicines and holistic practices with scientific research and evidence-based practices. This system would integrate plants — including supplements, vitamins, and nutrition, back into our lives in a healthy and accessible way.
This new approach would radically change the way our medical systems operate. As any physician will tell you, the only two states for a patient are “stable” or “critical.” Everything else is considered a luxury. That’s because the western medical model for medicine was born out of wartime and field hospitals. The idea of a scientific approach combined with holistic and integrative care will be foreign to most physicians. That’s why it’s important that we take this opportunity now to understand our history, our mistakes, and how we can chart a new path forward.
The Road Ahead
We—the cannabis industry—are at a crossroads. We can double down on a framework that hasn’t worked or we can begin anew. The world has been in turmoil for so many years, and our industry has not been spared. In fact, we’ve been beaten and stomped, lifted and rejected so many times, that many of us find ourselves grumbling jaded remarks under tired breaths. Still, we solider on. We are left standing after so many years of heartache. For some, it’s been decades.
But now, it is a different world and a different time. There’s a hunger for hope and a demand for better. We can rise to the occasion. We’ve shown we have the will. Now, we must show the way.
