“Of course, with the removal of [Internal Revenue Code, Section] 280E, it significantly changes the cash profile of the business and the ability to make investment decisions. . . . We’ve got a lot of bets on the table . . . we just need one to hit.”
This quote from a Cannabis Business Times interview with Kim Rivers says all you need to know about Trulieve’s investment in marijuana rescheduling. This is a case study on how industry lobbying can shape public policy at the highest level. As SAM EVP Luke Niforatos said, “if rescheduling goes through, it would be because of them.” Let’s dig in.
First, a primer on why rescheduling is so important to Trulieve:
Moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III would mean Section 280E of the federal tax code no longer applies for marijuana companies. 280E prohibits them from writing off expenses related to the sale of Schedule I drugs. This would allow marijuana companies to save big-time on taxes and expand even further thanks to being able to deduct advertising and marketing costs.
Trulieve is at the forefront of federal rescheduling lobbying, but as a Florida company, it has and continues to be aggressively involved in efforts to legalize recreational marijuana use in the state:
Trulieve almost single-handedly funded the 2024 recreational marijuana use legalization ballot drive, giving $141.9 million of the $149.7M raised by the Smart & Safe Florida committee by late Oct. 2024. After the measure narrowly failed to clear Florida’s 60% bar in Nov. 2024, Trulieve put in another $19.6 million in Q1 2025 to keep the effort alive for 2026.
Federal lobbying is another horse Trulieve has in the race. The company’s Federal Lobbying profile reveals that they had spent $150,000 in 2024; $262,500 in 2025 (first half), both on federal lobbying alone. They have also retained Ballard Partners and Advocus Partners, the latter linked to the GOP. Issues they flagged in their reports were banking, finance, government—which in light of the current policy climate strongly suggests lobbying surrounding 280E and rescheduling in general.
As former Vice Chair of the National Cannabis Roundtable, Kim Rivers has wielded political influence in this arena for quite some time. That influence only deepened when the National Cannabis Roundtable merged with the U.S. Cannabis Council in January 2025, the other top marijuana industry group, to form the behemoth U.S. Cannabis Roundtable. The Roundtable is a unified national voice for marijuana policy representing multi-state operators (MSOs)—marijuana companies that handle all aspects of the supply chain—like Trulieve. Rivers serves as Second Vice Chair In this newly formed mega-organization. Lastly, Trulieve is a member of the Coalition for Cannabis Scheduling Reform which is an industry alliance single-mindedly dedicated to rescheduling marijuana. (In case it wasn’t already obvious at this point what Trulieve wants.)
But even these channels are far from enough when it comes to securing the you want. Direct payments and aggressive schmoozing are also in order. Newly released records show $750,000 from Trulieve to President Trump’s inaugural committee (two payments in Dec. 2024, disclosed in April 2025 reporting). More reporting indicates marijuana industry leaders—including Rivers—attended a $1M-per-plate Bedminster fundraiser where rescheduling was allegedly discussed directly with Trump as he weighed Schedule III in Aug. 2025.
And don’t forget Trulieve’s Matt Gaetz play. Ex-rep Gaetz (also a Florida man) was the President’s first nominee for attorney general and an ardent marijuana enthusiast and advocate. The Daily Beast reported a leaked “counsel agreement” suggesting Trulieve offered Gaetz consulting fees tied to “administration-related” outcomes. Neither party confirmed. But where there’s smoke . . .
Trulieve is no stranger to that kind of smoke. They paid influencer Rogan O’Handley (who tweets as DC Draino) $160,000+ from Trulieve for sending two supportive tweets about the Florida marijuana ballot initiative.
And these are the personalities who are known. When one looks at the army of conservative influencers who came out of the woodwork to support rescheduling, influencers like Alex Bruesewitz, Bruce Lavelle, and Gunther Eagleman, you can’t help wondering: “how much did you get?”
What we don’t have (yet) in credible filings: on-the-record payments from Trulieve/Smart & Safe Florida to other named conservative influencers beyond O’Handley. Most of the right-leaning spend the campaign made went to GOP-aligned consulting/media firms, not individual creators—for example: Ax Media ($87M), Axiom Strategies ($16.5M), Vanguard Field Strategies ($14.6M), Targeted Victory ($4.5M), Remington Research ($2.5M), and WPA Intelligence ($1M).
Whether Trulieve will get what they want is yet to be determined. It’ll be a disaster for America if they win this fight. But one thing’s for sure: a green light to reschedule is an indictment of how flawed the system is, running smoothly for corporations instead of families and communities across the country. This is especially sad when one considers that the industry deploys “better research” and “social equity” as reasons why they support rescheduling.
How dumb do we look?