In Lobbying Spending, Cresco Leads the Pack

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Cannabis Wire sifted through the latest lobbying disclosures due last week, for Q2 2024, and a few things stood out. 

First, spending. Cresco, a multistate operator with large footprints in states like Florida, Illinois, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, is spending more money on lobbying than any other MSO. Here is a look at Cresco’s spend this quarter, along two other cannabis companies that are among the largest in the U.S.:

Cresco: $400,000 (read their full disclosure here)

Curaleaf: $140,000 (read their full disclosure here)

Trulieve: $37,500 (read their full disclosure here)

Second, the Farm Bill. For all of the hand wringing over the implications of this legislation for hemp and cannabis companies, there are noticeably few entities that have actually included the bill in their disclosures. 

We spotted Green Thumb Industries, which lobbied on “cannabis-related provisions in the Farm Bill.” (Read their full disclosure here.)

We also spotted a couple of entities that weren’t as explicit as GTI, but that put the Farm Bill down as a priority alongside their other cannabis priorities.

Good Day Farm lobbied on “legislative and regulatory issues related to medical cannabis; Farm Bill Reauthorization – H.R.8467, Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024.” (Read their full disclosure here.) 

And Scotts Miracle Gro lobbied on “Issues related to cannabis and S.2860 The Safer Banking Act,” the “FARM Bill,” and “Issues related to IRC Section 280E.” (You can read their full disclosure here.)

And, also notably, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, which owns the only FDA-approved drug naturally derived from cannabis, Epidiolex, a pure CBD formulation, lobbied not only on the Farm Bill, but explicitly on “Hemp definition.” Other cannabis-related lobbying priorities included: “S.2860 – SAFER Banking Act,” “Issues related to the regulation of cannabis and CBD,” and “Research and development of cannabis-derived therapies.” (You can read their full disclosure here.)

To bring it full circle, Jazz spent $​520,000 this quarter – not too much more than Cresco, considering Jazz is a much larger company.