So the recent news is that Amazon has announced the company officially supports nationwide marijuana legalization. And, they said they would stop drug-testing ‘some’ employees for marijuana use. How bold (LOL). It is ridiculous that any company would test for weed use but Amazon has been doing so for many years. After all, weed does not cause hangovers like alcohol does. So companies that test for marijuana should probably test for alcohol instead.
Cannabis dispensaries are in a panic, of course, because they fear Amazon will start selling pot. It is unlikely Amazon will sell marijuana anytime soon. At the present time Amazon does not even allow the sale of CBD, unless it is disguised as hemp oil. And as far as cannabis is concerned, until there is Federal legalization, selling weed on Amazon is out of the question, considering the credit card processors do not permit transactions for marijuana since it is Federally illegal.
So, while any independent retailer of anything understands that when Amazon sells a product the small retailer sells, it is often curtains for the small retailer. (Actually, it’s curtains for many big national retailers too.) But, competition in the legal marijuana space from Amazon should not be anything to worry about in the near future. Yes, Amazon is a small business killer and a big business killer too. But we are a long way off before they sell weed. With a little luck maybe some in Washington will put our anti-trust laws to work and break up what sure looks a lot like an Amazon monopoly.