As one Republicangovernor after another rejectsPresident Bidens suggestion to pardon simple cannabispossession convictions, one wonders whatthey're thinking. After all, cannabis legalizationis all the rage these days, withsupportskyrocketingand midterms approaching. Even the President isleaning in that direction with his recentpardonsofthousands of federal cannabis offenders.

A quick trip over toFollowTheMoney.orgmight shed some light on at least three governors who remain adamant, despite the will of theirconstituents, about keeping weed illegal and people locked up tight for violations.

Republican Govs.Greg AbbottofTexas,Bill LeeofTennesseeand Asa HutchinsonofArkansas whoallrushed to publiclypan Biden's pardonrequesthappento havereceived a total of $263,875 from donors linked to theprivate prison industry,David Sirotapointed out.Hutchinson receivedless than $10 grand.Indiana GovernorEric Holcombalso joined the unforgivinggroup thoughhis donorsshowed no private prison connections.Is TheAnti-Cannabis LobbyKeepingThe Beds Filled In Private Prisons?

The U.S. hasa combination of government-run prisons and private, for-profitprisons. We also have thehighest incarceration rate per capitain the world.Thistranslates toover twomillion prisoners nationwide with45% imprisonedfor drug offenses, including many for cannabis,according to the Bureau of Prisons(BOP).

A total of 26 states and the federal governmentuse private corporations such as theGEO GroupGEO ,CoreCivic(NYSE:CXW)(formerly Corrections Corporation of America, CCA),Management and Training CorporationandLaSalle Corrections,which combinedincarcerated nearly 100,000 Americans in 2020.Since then, the number of people incarceratedin private prisons has increased by 14%.

Then theres PalantirPLTR , thesecretivedata-mining firm co-founded byTrump adviserPeter Thielwho also co-founded PayPal PYPL andAtaiLife Sciences(NASDAQ:ATAI)psychedelics company. Palantir, whichspecializes in big data analytics, has faced sizzling criticismfor its work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).Lets Look At Florida'sAnti-Cannabis Lobby, As An Exampe

Private prisons in Florida are very busy. In fact, the prison population hasdoubled since 2000 and is still growingdespiteBiden's 2021 executive orderto end their use and not renew any contracts.TheWashington Post reported thatGEO and CoreCivic donatednearly $2.5 millionto the GOP of Florida PAC over the last two decades, which coveredthecampaigns of Sen. Marco Rubio and former Governorand now Sen.Rick Scott who received asix-figure donationfrom GEO seemingly encouraging him to oppose the legalization of medical marijuana. Current Gov. Ron DeSantis hasgrudgingly accepted MMJthough he hasalso said hednever signa full legalization bill.Who Owns All These Private Prison Stocks?

Fidelity, BlackRock BLK , State Street STT and Vanguard are all big private prison investors.BlackRock isthe largest investor in CoreCivic with a stake of 15.38%.

CoreCivic and rival GEO Group have faced numerous lawsuits andaccusationsof housing people in unsafe conditionsand keeping inmates aslong as they canto maximize revenue. The stock of CoreCivic, the first to operate both private prisons and for-profit immigration detention centers, took a beating recently due tothe above.

Bill Keller,award-winning journalist and founding editor-in-chief of The Marshall ProjecttoldThe Guardian recentlythat it was President Reagan who first pushedthe idea of privately run, for-profit prisons. Since the new prison owners were paid the same way as hotel proprietors, by occupancy, they had no incentive to prepare prisoners for release.

So, without those 45,000cannabis prisoners, there will be lots more emptybeds in prisons, both public and private.Any questions?

Photo: Kindel media by Pexels and Benny Marty by Shutterstock