Cannabis and hemp banking bill passes, would allow access to finance naturalproductsinsider.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from naturalproductsinsider.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Investing Daily Printable PDF
Until the 1990s, when marijuana laws started to loosen, getting busted for possession of pot in some states carried the potential of a multi-year prison sentence. As a teenager in Massachusetts during the Nixon-Carter era, I witnessed friends getting tossed into the hoosegow just for holding a few joints.
But nowadays, even the nation’s top cops are clamoring for the normalization of marijuana laws.
Recent case in point: Three state attorneys general and the top prosecutor for Washington, DC sent a letter on April 1 (no, it wasn’t an April Fool’s Day joke) to congressional leaders, stating their strong support for legislation that would protect banks that serve state-legal cannabis markets from being penalized by federal regulators.
Introduction
In September 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act of 2019”,
1 the first stand-alone cannabis legislation to be approved by the House of Representatives. Earlier this month, revised versions of the bill were introduced in the House and Senate “to reform federal cannabis laws and reduce the public safety risk in communities across the country.”
2
Current Status
Representatives Ed Perlmutter (D-CO-7), Nydia Velázquez (D-NY-7), Steve Stivers (R-OH-15), and Warren Davidson (R-OH-8) introduced the “SAFE Banking Act of 2021”
3 on 18 March. To-date, they have recruited an additional 120 co-sponsors, including 16 additional Republicans. In the 116th Congress, the bill had 202 additional co-sponsors, including 25 additional Republicans, and was approved by a vote of 321-103 (including 102 Republicans).
AJ Taylor6 hours agoLast Updated: March 30, 2021
U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) issued the following statement regarding the World Health Organization’s (WHO) report on the origin of the novel coronavirus:
“The American people deserve an independent, scientific investigation into the origins of the novel coronavirus not one that is influenced or controlled by the Communist Party of China, like this report was. In addition, as a watchdog of taxpayer money, I urge U.S. government agencies to publicly disclose the amount of American tax dollars that may have gone to research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology as the law requires and to permanently ban American taxpayer funding of ‘unregulated’ wet markets in Red China and elsewhere.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Announces Witnesses for Upcoming Equality Act Hearing
Today, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary announced witnesses for its upcoming hearing on the Equality Act. Set for Wednesday, March 17th at 10am ET, the committee will feature Members of Congress, advocates and leaders including: Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David, transgender youth and advocate Stella Keating and Dr. Edith Guffey, Conference Minister of the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference of the United Church of Christ.
“This Wednesday will be a historic opportunity to advance equality for all. For the first time in our decades-long fight for equal rights, the Senate will host a hearing on the Equality Act and I welcome this important opportunity to highlight the need for this critical legislation