Amazon is taking action to push cannabis legalization at the federal level. It realized that the lack of national regulation on cannabis creates several hurdles that undermine its growth. But beyond its official claims, cannabis legalization would pave Amazon the way to enter the cannabis industry.
In June, Amazon announced to treat cannabis in the same way as alcohol by no longer including marijuana in its comprehensive drug screening program for any positions not regulated by the Department of Transportation.
Bloomberg reported that Amazon also advised its delivery partners to prominently advertise that they won’t screen applicants for marijuana use. Such a move could boost the number of job applicants by as much as 400%.
In September, Amazon announced to support the effort to reform the cannabis policy. In a blog post written by Amazon’s Senior Vice President of Human Resources Beth Galetti, Amazon recognizes how difficult is for the company to implement a fair national pre-employment marijuana testing program amid legalization at the state level.
Amazon highlighted that drug testing policy disproportionately affects people of color and acts as a barrier to employment, as well as limiting its applicant pool. It also reaffirmed it is actively lobbying on the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2021 (MORE Act) and the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity (CAO) Act. [Read more at Forbes]
The post Inside Amazon’s Support To Legalize Marijuana At The Federal Level appeared first on Cannabis Business Executive - Cannabis and Marijuana industry news.
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