One of Canada’s largest cannabis companies is supporting a Toronto-based campaign to clear the names of Canadians convicted of pot possession.
In May, the nonprofit group Campaign for Cannabis Amnesty was launched in Toronto to push the Trudeau government to grant ‘blanket pardons’ for those convicted of possession.
Aurora Cannabis Inc. announced this morning that it’s contributed $50,000 to the organization, which is comprised of lawyers, activists, and entrepreneurs.
Campaign for Cannabis Amnesty campaign director Annamaria Enajor said in a news release this morning that Aurora’s participation ‘will allow us to shine a brighter light on the urgent need’ for amnesty.
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‘Granting pardons for cannabis possession will directly help over half a million Canadians, and benefit our economy at the same time,’ Enajor said. ‘It’s a no-brainer and we are looking to work closely with legislators in Ottawa to make this happen.’
According to the news release, the campaign will ‘use the funds to advocate for expungement of criminal records for personal cannabis offences that will no longer be illegal after October 17, 2018’.
In addition, the campaign will educate Canadians about current injustices arising from prohibition of cannabis.
‘We look to the Canadian government to provide amnesty to these people, largely from marginalized communities, ensuring their broad exclusion from Canadian society is lifted,’ Aurora’s director of advocacy and corporate social responsibility, Jonathan Zaid, said in the news release. ‘The work of the Campaign for Cannabis Amnesty is making a very positive contribution towards this much needed policy change.’
Aurora Cannabis has the second-largest market capitalization of all Canadian companies in this sector. It’s $8-billion value is only exceeded by Canopy Growth Corporation, which has a market cap of $12 billion.
