Twenty-six companies spent over $1.6 million on lobbying in Pennsylvania for cannabis reforms last year, according to a Spotlight PA analysis, with over $800,000 coming from multistate cannabis companies.
Trulieve, which operates cannabis businesses in nine states, spent over $210,000 on lobbying in Pennsylvania last year, with $165,000 spent on direct communications and $45,000 on indirect communication. The Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition (PCC), a trade organization, spent $171,720 on lobbying last year, which Meredith Buettner, the group’s executive director, told Spotlight was used to advocate for “modernization to the medical marijuana program,” and “advancing adult-use legislation.”
According to data from the state Department of State Lobbying Disclosure Database, in addition to Trulieve and the PCC, 24 other companies and organizations spent money lobbying for cannabis reforms in the state, including:
- Cresco Labs – $149,084
- PA Options for Wellness, Inc. – $105,000
- CannTech PA – $90,770
- Veranos – $90,000
- Curaleaf – $90,000
- Penn AltOrganics – $78,000
- Organic Remedies Inc – $75,157
- Acreage Holdings – $69,066
- Restore Integrated Wellness Center – $68, 641
- Ascend Wellness Holdings – $65,942
- Holistic Farms, LLC – $60,871
- Maitri Holdings LLC – $48,000
- Metrc – $39,000
- FarmaceuticalsRX – $38,500
- GIT Pennsylvania – $36,040
- MLH Explorations, LLC – $28,984
- Terrapin – $24,586
- US Cannalytics – $24,000
- ACT Laboratories, Inc. – $20,000
- Jushi Holdings – $19,500
- Green Leaf Medical, LLC – $16,250
- Whole Plants – $15,000
- American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp – $6,653
- Leaflink – $3,260
Some cannabis company executives also contributed to political candidates and lawmakers in Pennsylvania, including Benjamin Kovler, CEO and founder of Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries (GTI), who contributed $45,000 to Pennsylvania’s highest-ranking lawmakers last year. Kovler gave Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) a $25,000 donation while splitting evenly the remaining funds between state House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D) and Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R). Anthony Georgiadis, president of GTI, contributed $10,000 apiece to state Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R) and State Sen. Dan Laughlin (R), who also chairs the chamber’s Law and Justice Committee.
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