Background

The cannabis industry has been described using the commercial determinants of health framework because it seeks to increase sales and profits through efforts to change the political environment. To increase understanding of these cannabis industry's efforts, this study describes cannabis industry campaign contributions in Colorado through an analysis of public records.

Methods

We reviewed datasets posted online at the Colorado Secretary of State's Transparent in Contribution and Expenditure Reporting (TRACER) Campaign Finance System. We generated descriptive data on cannabis industry contributions to elections and conducted regressions to identify predictors of contributions, and associations between lagged contributions and a legislator's cannabis industry score (how closely aligned lawmaker's legislative history is with the cannabis industry from -1 to 1).

Results

Between 2005-2021, 429 cannabis-affiliated contributors gave $4,658,385 (2021 inflation-adjusted) to 512 electoral committees. Contributions came primarily from non-profits (45%), businesses (27%), and individuals (25%). After recreational legalization in 2012, contributions from non-profit donors with industry ties gave way to contributions from cannabis businesses, business owners, and lobbyists. Cannabis industry contributions to local and state-wide ballot initiative campaigns historically made up the majority of the industry spending, but contributions to candidate committees more than tripled between the 2009-2010 legislative cycle and the 2019-2020 cycle. From 2017-2020, every $10,000 in lagged campaign donations from cannabis industry affiliated contributors was associated with a 0.245-point increase in a legislator's cannabis industry score (p=0.04).

Conclusion

Cannabis-affiliated interests made substantial campaign contributions in Colorado. Public health advocates should monitor industry connections to lawmakers and industry tactics used to mask the source of political contributions. Continued surveillance of the cannabis industry is essential to exposing conflicts of interest and preventing undue industry influence.

中文翻译：

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2005-2021 年科罗拉多州大麻产业运动支出

背景

使用健康商业决定因素框架来描述大麻产业，因为它寻求通过努力改变政治环境来增加销售额和利润。为了增加对这些大麻产业的努力的了解，本研究通过对公共记录的分析描述了科罗拉多州大麻产业运动的贡献。

方法

我们审查了科罗拉多州国务卿透明捐款和支出报告 (TRACER) 竞选财务系统在线发布的数据集。我们生成了大麻行业对选举贡献的描述性数据，并进行了回归，以确定贡献的预测因素，以及滞后贡献与立法者大麻行业得分之间的关​​联（立法者的立法历史与大麻行业从-1到1的紧密程度）。

结果

2005年至2021年间，429名大麻相关捐助者向512个选举委员会捐赠了4,658,385美元（2021年通货膨胀调整后）。捐款主要来自非营利组织 (45%)、企业 (27%) 和个人 (25%)。2012年娱乐合法化后，来自与行业有联系的非营利捐助者的捐款让位于大麻企业、企业主和游说者的捐款。大麻行业对地方和全州投票倡议活动的捐款历来占行业支出的大部分，但在 2009-2010 年立法周期和 2019-2020 年周期之间，对候选人委员会的捐款增加了两倍多。从 2017 年到 2020 年，大麻行业附属捐助者每滞后竞选捐款 10,000 美元，立法者的大麻行业得分就会增加 0.245 分（p=0.04）。

结论

与大麻相关的利益集团为科罗拉多州的竞选活动做出了巨大贡献。公共卫生倡导者应监控行业与立法者的联系以及用于掩盖政治捐款来源的行业策略。对大麻行业的持续监督对于揭露利益冲突和防止不当行业影响至关重要。