Rand Paul is making history on Tuesday, when he’ll become the first major-party presidential candidate to fundraise with the marijuana industry.
Paul will host a VIP reception at the Cannabis Business Summit in Denver. Tickets start at $2,700.
“Never before has a major-party presidential candidate held a reception at a cannabis industry event, and NCIA is proud to host Senator Paul,” the National Cannabis Industry Association wrote in their announcement of the event, obtained by Yahoo! News.
“He will take your questions and talk about his support of federal medical marijuana, his push to reform banking laws so they do not deny services to legal cannabis businesses, his work on criminal justice reform, and his support of allowing states to determine their own cannabis laws.”
“It’s the first event that we know of that a presidential candidate will be involved in the industry,” NCIA deputy director Taylor West told the Denver Post. “He’s kind of in a class of his own.”
Paul also recently received an “A-“ score in the Marijuana Policy Project’s presidential voting guide—the highest score of any candidate, Republican or Democrat.
“Sen. Paul has consistently supported states’ rights to establish their own marijuana policies, and he has been a vocal supporter of decriminalizing or reducing criminal penalties for those arrested for marijuana possession,” MPP wrote. They went on to cite his support for legislation that would free up states to legalize medical marijuana without federal intrusion, ease medical marijuana research, and allow marijuana businesses access to safe banking systems.
