Politics
Marijuana Business Owner Running For Congress Says Federal Legalization Is The ‘Only Path’ For ‘National Market Stability’
Colorado-based marijuana entrepreneur Wanda James is running for Congress, pledging to push for a complete end to federal cannabis prohibition if she’s elected. Anything short of legalization—whether that’s a bill focused on industry banking access or another incremental reform such as rescheduling—won’t cut it, she says.
James, who owns the Denver dispensary Simply Pure, is challenging Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) in next year’s Democratic primary to represent Colorado’s 1st congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. She spoke about her cannabis legalization platform at a MJBizCon event on Wednesday.
“No banking bill will save us. No half step will fix this. No incremental tweak will correct decades of damage,” she said in a press release ahead of the conference. “Only legalization gives this industry oxygen.”
“Only legalization ends 280E. Only legalization ends the raids. Only legalization ends the fear,” she said, referring to the existing policy preventing cannabis businesses from taking federal tax deductions and broadly putting companies at risk of federal enforcement action. “Only legalization stops the fragmented nonsense that destroys operators while confusing the public.”
“And let me be very clear about something else,” she said. “This is not a fight between hemp and cannabis. It is the same plant. The same history. The same communities. The same families. The same disrespect. It’s time to send someone to Congress who will meet the moment our industry demands.”
In a statement on her campaign site, James similarly said she will “champion legislation to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) entirely” if elected. Simply rescheduling the plant or kicking the can down the road with “administrative delays” is insufficient, she said.
“Full legalization. PERIOD,” she said. “This is the only way to move forward with federal safety standards, interstate commerce, banking access, and national market stability.”
“In Congress, I will work with reform-minded officials, veterans in both parties, and economic innovation committees to ensure legalization is implemented quickly, safely, and with strong public-health and consumer protections,” James added.
The campaign statement also said James would push for legislative reform that involves putting marijuana tax revenue toward community reinvestment initiatives supporting “affordable housing, mental-health services, childcare assistance, public-school improvements, and neighborhood economic development.”
“This approach ensures that legalization becomes a tool to lift families, support working people, and rebuild ALL communities harmed by decades of discriminatory and wasteful enforcement,” she said.
The candidate further said she’d “push for a federal equity framework that ensures communities disproportionately impacted by criminalization receive licensing priority, business development support, and access to federal grants and low-interest capital.”
James said the regulatory approach to marijuana she’d support would prevent “corporate consolidation from wiping out small operators and the pioneers who built this industry.”
“I will fight for antitrust protections, federal loan access, and fair interstate commerce rules that allow small businesses to compete without being crushed by multinational interests,” she said. “And I will push for clear federal packaging, testing, and transportation standards so entrepreneurs can scale responsibly across state lines.”
Also, as a military veteran herself, James said she’d pursue reform that’d allow doctors at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to recommend medical cannabis to the veteran population “without fear of penalty or bureaucratic barriers.”
In 2023, James approached then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) at an event focused on higher education and pressed him on stalled-out marijuana banking legislation, expressing how Black entrepreneurs in the industry are broadly supportive of the incremental reform to free up banks and credit unions to work with state-licensed cannabis businesses.
“I would be thrilled to see more and more movement on this. However—make no mistake—first and foremost, we must get basic banking over the finish line,” she told Marijuana Moment at the time, adding that her own personal bank accounts were closed recently due to her involvement in the marijuana industry.
James is also an elected regent at the University of Colorado, and her role in the marijuana industry became a point of contention leading to a formal censure by the Board of Regents after she criticized an advertisement campaign warning of the risks of cannabis use that she called racist because of its portrayal of Black people using marijuana.
“This is a victory for me, because we have completely exposed the University of Colorado’s issues with race,” she said of the censure. “We have been able to lay them bare for the world to see, and I could not be more proud of my community and the people who have stood with truth and stood against anti-Blackness.”
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser (D) responded to the board’s censure action, writing that the “First Amendment protects the right to free expression,” and neither “a White House executive order nor a public university policy can override this fundamental right.”
“I am concerned that the CU Board of Regents action sanctioning Regent Wanda James did just that,” he said. “To protect the right of free expression and the fair treatment of CU Regent James, the Board of Regents would do well to reconsider its action against her. Leaving this action in place not only raises questions of fairness, it undermines CD1’s representation on the Board.”
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Last year, Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) called James a “force of nature,” recognizing her influence in the marijuana policy debate and historic role in Colorado’s cannabis program.
DeGette, the incumbent congresswoman whose seat James is running for, is also supportive of marijuana reform. For example, she’s sponsored legislation—as well as an appropriation rider—to prevent federal interference in state cannabis laws.
