More than most big tech companies, Amazon has taken an active interest in legalization.

Earlier this year it came out in support of the MORE Act, the progressive bill which would federally decriminalize, and said it would stop testing most employees for THC.

In a blog post this week, SVP, Human Resources, Beth Galetti said the company now supports the progressive bill proposed by Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). She added that the company would reinstate employment eligibility for applicants who were denied jobs or former employees who were fired after failing drug tests. 

• As the country’s second largest private employer, after Wal-Mart, Amazon’s decision on employment policy is likely to be influential with hiring managers nationwide, at least.
• Amazon is also lobbying on legalization-related issues.
  Insider

That’s a big win for the normalization of cannabis. But it doesn’t explain why Amazon is getting out front of this issue. The obvious explanation, that the company wants to sling weed, doesn’t quite fit. So what’s going on?

A letter commenting on Schumer’s bill, the company wrote, “We’ve found that eliminating pre-employment testing for cannabis allows us to expand our applicant pool and assists us with meeting hiring needs.” Those fulfillment centers don’t operate themselves. Yet.

• It also notes, “We have refrained from commenting on areas where we do not have a particular view, including regulation, permitting, taxation, and interstate commerce.” 
• Amazon may want get into the cannabis business one day. The cannabiz would be crazy to ignore the tech giant. However, the $90B in cash Amazon reported in hand earlier this year is enough to buy every significant PotCo several times over. So it may see little need to get involved in the minutiae of legalization.
• Insider also suggests the company might also want to be in sync with public opinion which consistently favors legalization.

The former wunderkind mayor of Fall River, Mass. was sentenced to six years in prison after being convicted of public corruption in a marijuana licensing scheme.
WJAR (NBC)

In Forbes, veteran weed beat journo Chris Roberts argues federal law enforcement loves the cannabiz because it invites local political corruption. 

• Massachusetts requires PotCos to obtain local permission to open, which makes said permission extremely valuable. How do you win it? In Fall River, a struggling former mill town and one of the poorest cities in the state, the answer was “bribe the mayor.”
• The story, Roberts continues, is “a cautionary tale about how cannabis permits work when elected officials are granted the power to pick and choose who enters the business, rather than letting the almighty market decide.”
• He argues granting cities the power to pick who runs their pot shops “ensures that cannabis remains in the hands of wealthy investors and entrepreneurs, who skew white.”

Read the story.

Meanwhile in California, regulators are investigating a case where legalization allegedly abetted smuggling.

Regulators have opened an investigation into Oakland-based distributor Blue Tree after a “credible” tip from an anonymous whistleblower accused the company of a smuggling operation that fed tens of thousands of pounds into the illegal market over the past six months. 
Leafly

• Leafly: “Looking at Blue Tree’s METRC [track and trace] activity, the whistleblower claimed the activity represented ‘rampant, massive, organized fraudulent diversion.”
• The whistleblower alleged a “burner license” scheme, in which licensed companies participate in illegal activity.
• Burner schemes are a topic of frequent griping in the California industry. A new lawsuit filed by a dispensary CEO against California regulators alleges they tolerate burner schemes for reasons of revenue and pride. 
• Leafly found “abnormal traffic” i.e. volume discrepancies, between the company’s inbound and outbound orders.
• No charges have been filed against Blue Tree. It did not respond to Leafly‘s requests for comment.
• Reporter David Downs also gives a very thorough explanation of how “burner” license schemes work. 

The whole thing is worth your time.

The U.S. House of Representatives tacked cannabis banking reform onto a must pass defense appropriations bill, with some observers suggesting it has a chance of passing. The U.S. Senate now takes up the bill.

• Legalization supporter Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) explained to Marijuana Moment how he thinks it could pass: “I think the fifth time is the charm,” he said. 
• The bill has strong support from the American Bankers Association.
  @ABABankers
• Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-S.D.), who opposes REC legalization but sponsored a banking reform bill, is open to the defense bill as the “vehicle.” (Perhaps not coincidentally, Cramer receives more campaign contributions from securities and investment than from any other industry.) 
  @NatsFert, OpenSecrets
• The bill could face resistance from Senate Democrats who have called for comprehensive reform that includes equity provisions. 
  Banking Dive
• This summer, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who worked on the bill with Schumer said “I will lay myself down to do everything I can to stop an easy banking bill that’s going to allow all these corporations to make a lot more money off of this, as opposed to focusing on the restorative justice aspects.”
• I previously wrote about tensions between incremental and comprehensive reform.
  WeedWeek