His mentioning marijuana at the State of The Union was historic, but boy did he get some feedback when he tweeted.

The State of the Union address for many years was referred to as “the President’s Annual Message to Congress“. It is believed George Washington started the tradition and the term “State of the Union” first emerged in 1934 when used by Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR). President Biden mention of marijuana was historic and also showed how the plants reputation has come a long way from the war on drugs.  And when he tweeted about it, things got spicy. Biden’s weed tweet got numbers and feedback – and the administration might be wise to pay attention.

Related: California or New York, Which Has The Biggest Marijuana Mess

The tweet on cannabis reached 14 million and had 12,000 comments and 104,000 likes.  The President mentioned his marijuana pardons which drew a significant amount of feedback. According to BDSA, a leading analytics firm covering cannabis, the industry generated $29.5 billion in revue in 2023.  When talking about a need to grow the economy and taxes, here is a fresh industry the public wants, but antiquated laws are punishing small businesses.

When you subtract comments not relating to weed, they fall in three categories.  The first is the remaining resentment toward Vice President Harris for her historic stance on marijuana.  The industry was at first excited when Biden was elected as he indicated he would move opening up legalization for cannabis. His slow pace along with VP Harris’s previous role has frustrated the industry and it shows by the sharp remarks.

Another large batch of comments were just about making a move already!  Science, the American Medical Association, and the federal departments of the Healthy and Human Services (HHS) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have all said there are benefits.  People are clamoring for him to act and act quickly. But, it seems to the public eye, the administration has been very slow in fullfilling this promise from over 2020.

RELATED: Science Says Medical Marijuana Improves Quality Of Life

The third big conversation is his perception his pardons did more than they actually did for prisoners.  Again, there is hard feelings about it and the online community want him to understand what he did and did not do.

While the industry is expanding, it is still in growth mode and needs basic help in continuing to grow. Rescheduling would allow state cannabis operators to take federal tax deductions they’re currently barred from under an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E.  This would give immediate benefits to the cannabis industry which is 50+% small businesses.

The Fresh Toast is a daily lifestyle platform with a side of cannabis. For more information, visit www.thefreshtoast.com.

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