Justin Bieber, the cannabis activist

Justin Bieber has has always stirred up controversy, whether for his wild nights out, his abysmal fighting skills, or his romantic flings. Some media outlets have commented extensively on his behavior, while others, taking a more measured approach, have attributed these outbursts to a childhood spent in the spotlight.

Far from these pointless controversies, the Bieb has used his global fame for a good cause: to draw Beliebers’ attention to the pharmaceutical industry’s persistent lobbying efforts to block the legalization of cannabis.

On October 2, Bieber tweeted a link to an ATTN video that lists the various pharmaceutical companies lobbying the U.S. government to slow down or halt the legalization of cannabis.

This is important. A friend showed me this. I'm going to talk more about this. We all need to pay attention https://t.co/u4tzbEkFo5

— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) October 2, 2016

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The general consensus seems to be that these companies feel threatened by a natural product that poses a direct threat to Big Pharma’s main products (pain relievers, particularly in the form of natural cannabis). And, as we’ve said before, Justin Bieber is right.

Last month, we told you about the manufacturer of the painkiller Fentanyl, which donated 500,000$ to the anti-legalization camp in Arizona. Fentanyl is suspected of being responsible for numerous deaths in the United States, including Prince's death.

Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin—a highly addictive substance used for pain management—sponsored the annual convention of the American Coalition Against Drugs (CADCA) in 2014. CADCA is one of the largest anti-cannabis organizations in the United States. Purdue isn’t the only company to have contributed funds to this conference, by the way: Alkermes (manufacturer of Zohydro, a painkiller), Janssen Pharmaceutical, and Pfizer also contributed.

In Canada, Justin Bieber’s home country, Big Pharma is instead trying to get involved in legalization initiatives, particularly on the distribution side. The country’s largest pharmacy chain, Shoppers Drug Mart, has applied to become the exclusive distributor of cannabis in the country.

Since the sale of cannabis in Europe is still limited to certain countries, pharmaceutical companies are focusing more on developing new cannabinoid-based medications.

In any case, pro-cannabis activists in the U.S. and Canada are very careful not to let their cause be hijacked. And Justin Bieber might just help them with that!