‘Big Alcohol’-Funded Lobbying Group Pushes For Illegal Cannabis Crackdown

Marijuana clone plants are displayed for sale by Interstate 5 Farms at the cannabis-themed Kushstock Festival at Adelanto, Calif. (Photo: AP/Richard Vogel)

A lobbying group funded by a coalition of alcohol and tobacco companies is pushing for a new “track-and-trace” taxation system to crack down on illicit cannabis. The move has provoked mixed reactions from insiders, who feel that moneyed interests are replicating dangerous attitudes of marijuana prohibition.

The Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education, and Regulation (CPEAR) — funded in part by industry giants like Molson Coors Beverage Company and Constellation Brands — recently released a 35-page report urging renewed federal legislation in the face of state-led legalization.

“The illegal cannabis trade—pervasive in U.S. states both with and without regulated cannabis marketplaces—undermines all goals of a safe, well-regulated cannabis industry and threatens the health and safety of the general public […] The federal government’s current position on cannabis, best described as passive prohibition, is at odds with the majority of states that have legalized medical or adult-use cannabis,” states an early summary within the report.

Most notably, the report advocates for a national database to track cannabis sales alongside a “high-tech” tax stamp system complete with encryption protection, color-shifting dyes and unique serial numbers to distinguish between legal and illicit products.

Cannabis legalization advocates have responded with hesitation. Though CPEAR’s guidelines would work to the benefit of large-scale distributors, the report doesn’t outline any means for illegal sellers to transition into the legal market. In short, the legislation could exacerbate the growing divide between “Big Marijuana” and small-scale distributors looking to break into the industry.

This is where corporate-backed groups like CPEAR enter the equation.

A recent poll conducted by New Frontier Data found that 69% of consumers aged 18-24 said they prefer cannabis to alcohol. Across the board, 60% of cannabis users say that they’ve cut down on alcohol consumption over the past 20 years; those numbers are expected to grow.

Rather than compete with growing demand, alcohol and tobacco producers have begun integrating themselves into the wave. Industry mainstays like AB InBev, Heineken and Molson Coors have invested en mass into THC and CBD beverages, while tobacco companies have poured billions into cannabis group acquisitions.

CPEAR represents Phillip Morris, the world’s largest tobacco company by market share, and Molson Coors, the world’s third-largest brewer.  (Photo: AP/Gerry Broome)

As trends shift green, corporate powerhouses have a new reason to crack down on illicit cannabis sales.

“If you go to a drugstore this year, you’ll see signs explaining that Philip Morris and Reynolds America intentionally designed cigarettes to be addictive—court-mandated signage specifically shaming them for their behavior,” Shaleen Title, a former Massachusetts marijuana regulator, told the Marijuana Moment.

“The tax stamps idea is ridiculous, but the idea that anyone should engage these companies or their front groups as serious policy stakeholders is even more ridiculous.”

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