Legislative Losses for Cannabis This Month - Slog - The Stranger - Josh Jardine:
December 24, 2019 - "In 2019, optimism was in short supply no matter the subject, save cannabis. Numerous blogs, columns, and discussions revolved around how this was the year things were going to change.... Except [they] didn’t, and likely won’t, at least not anytime soon. While incremental progress was made ... the potential victories hoped for at the federal level failed to manifest in a big way....
"The Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (SAFE Act). ... passed [the House of Representatives] with surprisingly strong bipartisan support in September gaining 91 Republican votes. SAFE would allow banks and financial institutions to work with the cannabis industry, which would be of tremendous value to both the cannabis and banking industries..... Except...
"Last week, the Chair of the Senate Banking Committee Michael Crapo (R.-Idaho) announced that he isn’t down with the SAFE Act as it stands, and suggested some less than stellar potential changes which would effectively gut it. Per Marijuana Biz Daily: 'The Idaho Republican is considering a 2% THC potency cap on cannabis products for businesses to be eligible for financial services, substantially below current levels of 12% or more typically seen on retail shelves in state-legal markets.... Crapo stated that he remains opposed to federal cannabis legalization, interstate cannabis commerce and Idaho establishing a regulated cannabis program.'
"The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement Act, or MORE Act became the most comprehensive piece of cannabis legalization legislation to ever gain traction.... Last month the House Judiciary Committee passed it, sending it to the full house. But many believe its chances of getting to the Senate, much less gaining Senate support remain next to nil. That’s in large part to the current Senate majority leader ... Mitch McConnell.... Last year he told reporters that 'I do not have any plans to endorse the legalization of marijuana'....
"In fact, the most recent legislative actions ... had numerous cannabis-related amendments removed. Those included prohibiting the Feds from interfering with states with legal cannabis programs, and helping to protect banks which provide financial services to cannabis businesses. The Senate opted not to include these into the bill, and also added language to keep the District of Columbia from establishing a legal cannabis sales program using its own tax revenue....
"As Marijuana Moment notes 'These spending bills, which were released on Monday, are the latest losses for cannabis reform in the appropriations process. Defense authorization legislation released last week also saw two House-passed veterans-focused marijuana provisions scrapped by bicameral negotiators. Those measures would have protected veterans from being denied home loans from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs due to their employment in a state-legal cannabis business and allowed the heads of military branches to grant reenlistment waivers to individuals convicted of a single, low-level marijuana offense.'"
Read more: https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2019/12/23/42373161/legislative-losses-for-cannabis-this-month
'via Blog this'
December 24, 2019 - "In 2019, optimism was in short supply no matter the subject, save cannabis. Numerous blogs, columns, and discussions revolved around how this was the year things were going to change.... Except [they] didn’t, and likely won’t, at least not anytime soon. While incremental progress was made ... the potential victories hoped for at the federal level failed to manifest in a big way....
"The Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (SAFE Act). ... passed [the House of Representatives] with surprisingly strong bipartisan support in September gaining 91 Republican votes. SAFE would allow banks and financial institutions to work with the cannabis industry, which would be of tremendous value to both the cannabis and banking industries..... Except...
"Last week, the Chair of the Senate Banking Committee Michael Crapo (R.-Idaho) announced that he isn’t down with the SAFE Act as it stands, and suggested some less than stellar potential changes which would effectively gut it. Per Marijuana Biz Daily: 'The Idaho Republican is considering a 2% THC potency cap on cannabis products for businesses to be eligible for financial services, substantially below current levels of 12% or more typically seen on retail shelves in state-legal markets.... Crapo stated that he remains opposed to federal cannabis legalization, interstate cannabis commerce and Idaho establishing a regulated cannabis program.'
"The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement Act, or MORE Act became the most comprehensive piece of cannabis legalization legislation to ever gain traction.... Last month the House Judiciary Committee passed it, sending it to the full house. But many believe its chances of getting to the Senate, much less gaining Senate support remain next to nil. That’s in large part to the current Senate majority leader ... Mitch McConnell.... Last year he told reporters that 'I do not have any plans to endorse the legalization of marijuana'....
"In fact, the most recent legislative actions ... had numerous cannabis-related amendments removed. Those included prohibiting the Feds from interfering with states with legal cannabis programs, and helping to protect banks which provide financial services to cannabis businesses. The Senate opted not to include these into the bill, and also added language to keep the District of Columbia from establishing a legal cannabis sales program using its own tax revenue....
"As Marijuana Moment notes 'These spending bills, which were released on Monday, are the latest losses for cannabis reform in the appropriations process. Defense authorization legislation released last week also saw two House-passed veterans-focused marijuana provisions scrapped by bicameral negotiators. Those measures would have protected veterans from being denied home loans from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs due to their employment in a state-legal cannabis business and allowed the heads of military branches to grant reenlistment waivers to individuals convicted of a single, low-level marijuana offense.'"
Read more: https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2019/12/23/42373161/legislative-losses-for-cannabis-this-month
'via Blog this'
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