Americans are currently debating whether they’d rather have Joe Biden or Donald Trump in the White House, but ahead of 4/20, cannabis industry insiders are also buzzing about who they’d rather have in their blunt rotation.
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In honor of Saturday’s hashish-centric holiday, HuffPost canvassed folks working in the marijuana industry to see which presidential candidate they’d rather get high with.
Turns out, people in the bud business aren’t fired up about getting stoned with either guy ― but their reasons aren’t just political.
“I’m not touching this question with a 420-foot pole,” Matthew Janz, director of marketing for The Source, a Nevada-based chain of dispensaries, told HuffPost. “I’d rather smoke with my Mom ― who’s never smoked.”
Alec Rochford, CEO of the Happy Fruit edible company, said deciding between Biden and Trump is hard because “neither of them seem cannabis-friendly to me,” he told HuffPost. “I think we’re still waiting for an openly supportive candidate.”
When Trump was in office, he upheld federal prohibition of cannabis, but didn’t go after states with legal cannabis laws. He also has said that drug dealers should get the death penalty.
Although Biden pardoned thousands of people convicted of using or possessing pot on federal lands and in the District of Columbia in December, he has yet to remove cannabis from the list of harmful drugs outlawed by the federal government, despite pleas from members of his own party.
Adam Terry, CEO of Cantrip, a THC-infused beverage company, thinks that Biden is better for the cannabis industry, despite being “a reformed drug warrior.” Biden and a Democratic Congress, he said, could eventually pass laws to make it easier for the cannabis industry to use bank accounts rather than relying on cash, just like other businesses can.
“Hell, maybe there’s even a path towards national hemp regulation that could stabilize these varying state rules,” Terry said. “With Trump, we just end up with more ultra-conservative Christians in Congress who think that smoking weed will cause their wives to leave them and their children to grow horns.”
But Zane Witzel, founder and CEO of Cannador, a brand of storage devices for pot, think neither would be particularly good for the weed business ― or as a smoking buddy.
“Neither’s going to deliver on anything and I wouldn’t want to smoke with any politician... ever,” Witzel said.
Danny Murr-Sloat, a cannabis cultivation expert at AlpinStash Genetics and Consulting, concurred.
“I don’t think either are a friend of the industry, and I wouldn’t care to partake, or spend time, with either,” he said, before adding. “Bernie Sanders, on the other hand…”
Michael Moussalli, co-founder of High Seas, a dispensary in Costa Mesa, Calif., said neither party “is serious about federal reform,” and thinks both sides are playing to their constituents in different areas for votes.
“Since taking office, President Biden has not shown strong support for cannabis legalization. In fact, one of his initial actions was to dismiss staff members who had a history of marijuana use,” Moussali told HuffPost “While [Trump] did not actively push for legalization, he also did not take strong anti-cannabis measures during his term.”
But some people are willing to separate business from pleasure and consider which candidate they’d rather get stoned with.
Liam Cohen, founder of Tokin’ Jew, a cannabis lifestyle brand, thinks Biden is better for his business, but admits he’d rather smoke with Trump.
“I can only imagine the outlandish takes he would have after ripping a bong,” Cohen admitted.
Keith N. Williams of the California-based That’s Posh Delivery service, admits he’d “rather roll up with Trump,” adding that he “couldn’t bring myself to sit down with the author of the 1994 crime bill.”
Jesce Horton, CEO of LOWD Cannabis, would also rather smoke with Trump more than Biden, even though he thinks the current president might be better for his industry.
“Biden is making some pretty important steps towards legalization but he might be asleep after a puff of [my cannabis brand],” Horton joked.
But Terrence White, CEO of the Monko cannabis brand, would “be more comfortable sparking up a joint with Joe.”
“I have a daughter; women’s rights are important to me and everyone. It’s a lesser-of-two-evil[s] question,” he said.
Mason Palmer, the co-founder of Smoke Honest, an Oregon-based smokeware company, also thinks Biden is better for his business, but admits the possibility of getting Trump stoned is intriguing.
“There’s nothing like smoking with ultra-conservative old folks,” Palmer said. “Their reaction to cannabis is always priceless.”
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