Politics
Marijuana Industry Political Committee Donated $1 Million To Trump’s PAC, New FEC Filings Show
A marijuana industry-funded political committee donated $1 million to President Donald Trump’s MAGA Inc. super PAC in the first half of this year, according to newly published Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings.
The American Rights and Reform PAC, which launched in 2023 under a different name, Legalize America, took in money from multiple cannabis companies to support its work, which included ads released in May that attacked former President Joe Biden’s marijuana policy record in an apparent attempt to push Trump to go further on the issue.
But beyond the ads, the cannabis PAC separately contributed $1 million to MAGA Inc., describing it as a “donation,” the FEC documents show.
While a sizable contribution, a broader look at the MAGA Inc. PAC receipts in the midyear report show it’s something of a drop in the bucket, as the committee took in more than $177 million total between January 1 and June 30 from a wide range of sources. That includes $1 million from the tobacco giant Altria Client Services, $5 million from Elon Musk, $16 million from GOP megadonor Jeff Yass and $1 million from Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
Meanwhile, a post that recently circulated on social media appears to show that MAGA Inc., which is also referred to as also called Make America Great Again Inc., itself created an ad that touts Trump’s support for “commonsense reform” such as removing cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and letting states set their own policies.
The ad ends with the narrator saying “Donald Trump for president,” however, indicating that it may have been prepared prior to the 2024 election.
The American Rights and Reform PAC also contributed $300,000 to X Strategies, LLC, a political consulting firm, for “media.” The company’s CEO, Alex Bruesewitz, describes himself as a Trump advisor and is among a slew of conservative figures who have recently taken to social media to make the case for reform under the current administration.
Notably, among Bruesewitz’s marijuana-related X posts is one from last month stating that he has “no personal stake in this debate.”
As far as contributions to the cannabis-focused PAC went, the committee saw several major marijuana corporations donate to the cause.
For example, Verano Holdings Corp. donated a total of $1,037,500, Green Thumb Industries, Inc. gave the PAC $1 million, Cresco Labs chipped in $750,000, as did Curaleaf, and Trulieve contributed $250,000.
Marijuana Moment reached out to the companies for comment, but representatives did not immediately respond. Personnel affiliated with American Rights and Reform PAC, which lists an executive Curaleaf as its treasurer, also did not respond to inquiries, nor did MAGA Inc. or X Strategies.
Part of the dollars the cannabis committee received went to targeted advertising that cast Biden in a negative light for falling short of expectations on the cannabis reform front, despite the former president’s initiation of the rescheduling review the industry is pushing to complete.
The PAC also reported an expenditure $120,500 to a strategic consulting and research firm associated with Trump, Fabrizio, Lee & Associates, LLC, for “legal” services. The same firm conducted a survey of registered voters that showed a majority of Republicans back a variety of cannabis reforms that is promoted on the PAC’s website.
Whether the dollars that went to MAGA Inc. will influence the president to more proactively engage on marijuana policy issues is yet to be seen. Trump backed rescheduling, industry banking access and a Florida legalization ballot initiative on the campaign trail, but he’s been public quiet on the topic since taking office.
That said, the owner of the major gardening supply company Scotts Miracle-Gro recently said Trump has told him directly “multiple times” since taking office that he intends to see through the marijuana rescheduling process.
Earlier FEC records also previously showed that Trulieve and Curaleaf contributed a total of $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee following his election last November.
Trump’s former acting head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) also recently predicted that the administration will soon “dig in” to the state-federal marijuana policy conflict, emphasizing the need to “eliminate confusion, not create it” amid the rescheduling push.
Meanwhile, Terrence Cole, who was sworn in last month as the new administrator of the DEA, declined to include rescheduling on a list of “strategic priorities” the agency that instead focused on anti-trafficking enforcement, Mexican cartels, the fentanyl supply chain, drug-fueled violence, cryptocurrency, the dark web and a host of other matters.
That’s despite the fact that Cole said during a confirmation hearing in April that examining the government’s pending marijuana rescheduling proposal would be “one of my first priorities” after taking office.
Ahead of Cole’s swearing-in on Wednesday, the Senate a day earlier gave final approval to the Trump nominee. Almost immediately afterward, a major marijuana industry association renewed the push to make progress on the long-stalled federal cannabis rescheduling process.
