Amazon is channeling its influence in Washington to drum up bipartisan support for an unlikely cause: legalizing marijuana.
The company on Tuesday endorsed legislation by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) to end the federal prohibition on pot, as Forbes reported, the first time it has backed a GOP-led bill on the issue. In doing so, Amazon is dialing up an unexpected campaign that if successful could make it easier for the e-commerce giant to expand its workforce as it continues a big hiring surge.
The tech giant came out in favor of legalization efforts last year and has since lobbied both publicly and privately for other, Democratic-led proposals that like Mace’s would remove marijuana from the federal government’s list of controlled substances. (Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon, owns The Washington Post.)
Now the tech giant is again flexing its political might to rally lawmakers behind the cause, which Amazon says could widen its applicant pool by helping to ease drug testing requirements and assist with employee retention.
“This is not an issue that Amazon would normally engage on,” Brian Huseman, Amazon’s vice president of public policy, told me during an interview Tuesday.
Legalizing pot could also open the door to a lucrative new market for the online retailer. But Huseman said Amazon is not interested in selling pot.
“There are no plans to sell cannabis and that is not why we’re doing this or being involved in this debate,” he said. [Read More @ The Washington Post]
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