House Approves Marijuana Banking Reform As Part Of Defense Spending BillPublished 12 hours ago on September 21, 2021By Kyle Jaeger
SHARETWEET
The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday approved an amendment to protect banks that service state-legal marijuana businesses from being penalized by federal regulators. It passed on a voice vote, and no member requested a roll call. The measure is now attached to large-scale defense spending legislation.
This action comes hours after the House Rules Committee made in order the amendment from Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) for floor consideration. It was one of numerous drug policy proposals that lawmakers had hoped to attach to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
“This will strengthen the security of our financial system in our country by keeping bad actors like foreign cartels out of the cannabis industry. But most importantly, this amendment will reduce the risk of violent crime in our communities,” Perlmutter said on the floor ahead of the vote. “By dealing in all cash, these businesses and their employees become targets for robberies, assaults, burglaries and more.”
“This is a public safety and a national security matter—very germane to the issues at hand, dealing with foreign cartels and particularly the cash that is developed by this business that leads to crime,” he added.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) said he considers the proposal to be a “fine piece of legislation,” but argued that it’s more appropriate as standalone legislation, rather than as an add-on to NDAA.
“I think what [Perlmutter is] trying to accomplish is admirable and should be accomplished, but not in the National Defense Authorization Act,” he said.
But Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) made the case for including the cannabis reform in the national security bill.
“I think the reason it was ruled germane by the parliamentarian is the cartels control the drug trade in the United States. And while most states have made some legal form for marijuana, the cartels still dominate the market,” he said. “And part of the reason is the cash is in the black market. Legal operations in many states cannot be banked… This is preventing us from stopping the cartels.”
Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA) also rose in support of the amendment, saying that “cannabis customers and businesses are law-abiding citizens and entities, yet they have to pay their employees, their bills and their federal taxes with cash. It just does not make sense.”
This marks the fifth time in recent years that the the House has passed the cannabis banking reform, which has enjoyed broad support both as standalone legislation and while being tucked in as provisions of broader legislation. But while advocates support the proposal, some have made clear that they want to see more comprehensive changes to marijuana laws advance first, complicating the process.
Some lawmakers—particularly on the Senate side where a legalization bill from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is being finalized—have insisted the banking issue should be tackled by holistically ending marijuana prohibition. They argue that it is inappropriate to pass what is seen as an industry-focused reform that helps businesses and investors while leaving unaddressed the harms of decades of racially disparate prohibition enforcement that should be addressed with equity-focused legalization.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), who is helping Schumer alongside Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) to produce a final legalization bill has said he would proactively work to block any senators who attempt to get marijuana banking reform passed before enacting social justice-focused legalization legislation.
Additionally, Schumer argued in an interview with Marijuana Moment that passing the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act first could jeopardize support for broader reform. The thinking is that Republicans and moderate Democrats who are on the fence about a bolder policy change might be less inclined to vote for it if they have an opportunity to pass the more modest financial services fix instead.
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Meanwhile, although the cannabis banking legislation is not directly connected to defense-related issues, it’s likely Perlmutter and other supporters see the must-pass NDAA as a potential vehicle for the reform that could make its way through the Senate, whereas all prior House-passed cannabis banking legislation has stalled to date.
At an initial meeting of the Rules Committee about NDAA on Monday, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA), who is managing the bill, acknowledged that while some members might consider certain amendments “superfluous” to defense spending matters, the annual legislation has been used as a vehicle to advance non-germane legislation in the past. He added, though, that doing so has historically required the issues at hand to have broad bipartisan support in order to survive the House-Senate conference committee process.
He didn’t specifically cite the cannabis banking proposal, but Perlmutter himself said earlier in the hearing that “whether something is superfluous is always in the eyes of the beholder,” signaling that he feels his measure’s germaneness in this context is up for interpretation.
Smith said that “whatever superfluous items the Rules Committee decides to put in order and get attached to this bill, we go to conference, and in conference, we work in a bipartisan fashion.”
“We’re not going to pull one over on anybody here. We’re going to have to work with committees of jurisdiction—not just the chairs, but the ranking members as well—to come to some agreement on those before we go forward,” he said. “So if you see an item that you consider to be superfluous being added to the bill, don’t freak out.”
The chair’s comments about needing support from leaders of committees of jurisdiction raise questions about whether the amendment stands a chance in conference with the Senate following House approval. Not only did House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Patrick McHenry (R-SC) vote against the standalone SAFE Banking Act this year and in 2019, but on the Senate side, even Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has been generally unenthusiastic about advancing the reform.
On the flip side, House Finance Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) is a supporter of the banking reform and brought it through her panel last Congress. Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Pat Toomey (R-PA), for his part, has previously voiced support for advancing the SAFE Banking Act.
It’s been four months since the House last approved the bipartisan marijuana banking bill—but because companion legislation has stalled in the Senate, Perlmutter is getting impatient.
The congressman said that he appreciates that Senate leadership is pushing for a more comprehensive end to federal marijuana prohibition—and he agrees with Booker that promoting social equity is an important objective—but he feels the SAFE Banking Act is urgently needed to address public safety issues resulting from the industry’s lack of access to traditional financial institutions.
Some of the strongest proponents for broad reform like Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) voted in favor of the SAFE Banking Act in April despite the body yet having taken up a legalization measure this session.
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UP NEXTPennsylvania Senators Discuss Bill To Provide DUI Protections For Medical Marijuana Patients
DON'T MISSCalifornia State Fair Will Host Marijuana Competition For The First Time At 2022 Event, Officials Announce
Kyle Jaeger Kyle Jaeger is Marijuana Moment's Sacramento-based senior editor. His work has also appeared in High Times, VICE and attn.YOU MAY LIKE
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POLITICSPennsylvania Senators Discuss Bill To Provide DUI Protections For Medical Marijuana PatientsPublished 1 hour ago on September 22, 2021By Kyle Jaeger
Pennsylvania senators on Tuesday heard testimony on a bill to protect medical marijuana patients from being prosecuted under the state’s “zero tolerance” DUI laws.
Health professionals, lawyers and law enforcement officials spoke before the Senate Transportation Committee, highlighting the unique complications that cannabis patients and police face under the current statute and the constitutionality of the proposed reform.
The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R), would amend state law to require proof of active impairment before a registered patient could be prosecuted for driving under the influence. The current lack of specific protections for the state’s roughly 368,000 patients puts them in legal jeopardy when on the road, supporters say.
“Unfortunately, Pennsylvania’s zero tolerance DUI law does not contemplate the difference between medicinal and recreational use of marijuana,” Bartolotta told committee members at the hearing. “Because of this, unimpaired patients currently face the risk of being arrested, prosecuted and convicted for using medicinal marijuana that has no bearing on their ability to drive a vehicle.”
While many other medical cannabis states require proof of impairment or have set per se THC limits for driving, Pennsylvania maintains a zero tolerance policy for marijuana.
Patrick Nightingale, a criminal defense attorney who is also part of the reform organization Law Enforcement Action Partnership, explained to the committee that the current law makes it so people can be prosecuted for having cannabis metabolites present in their system while driving. That’s troubling, he said, because those compounds can be present for weeks after a person ingests marijuana, and it does not prove active impairment.
He said that while everyone agrees that medical cannabis patients shouldn’t be given a free pass to drive while intoxicated on marijuana, the proposed bill would simply align the state’s policy with the science and provide necessary protections for patients.
“I’m very encouraged that Senator Bartolotta was willing to step up on behalf of Pennsylvania patients. We have been struggling for over two years to get some traction on DUI reform bills,” Nightingale told Marijuana Moment. He added that he feels confident that, because the sponsor is part of the legislature’s majority party, the bill will move through committee and ultimately become enacted.
The legislation would essentially make it so medical cannabis would be treated the same by law enforcement as Schedule II and III drugs such as prescription opioids and anti-anxiety medication.
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Marijuana Moment is already tracking more than 1,200 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.
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“This, in my opinion as a criminal defense attorney, activist and medical cannabis patient, is the most pressing issue facing our 350,000 plus medical cannabis patient population,” Nightingale said.
Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, submitted written testimony to the committee.
“Zero tolerance DUI prosecutions and convictions without proof of actual impairment and reliance on non-psychoactive metabolites is unscientific and without any rational support,” he said, adding that even per se THC limits for drivers that have been imposed in other states are unscientific attempts to address the issue without recognizing the complex pharmacokinetic properties of cannabis and its effects on consumers.
Members of the committee did not vote on the proposal on Tuesday, but the hearing sets the stage for later action.
Bartolotta first introduced an earlier version of her bill in June 2020. She said at the time that the state needs to “ensure that the legal use of this medicine does not give rise to a criminal conviction.”
Months after the standalone reform legislation was introduced, the Pennsylvania House approved a separate amendment that would enact the policy change.
Pennsylvania legalized medical marijuana in 2016, with the first dispensaries in the state opening in 2018. But the state’s zero-tolerance DUI law still doesn’t reflect those changes.
“Unimpaired patients currently face the risk of being arrested, prosecuted and convicted for using medicinal marijuana that has no bearing on their ability to drive a vehicle,” the senator wrote in a cosponsorship memo late last year. “Given the very serious consequences of a DUI conviction, my legislation will provide critical protections for medicinal cannabis patients by ensuring responsible use of their legal medicine does not give rise to a criminal conviction.”
Witnesses who testified on Tuesday emphasized that evidence isn’t clear on the relationship between THC concentrations in blood and impairment.
A study published in 2019, for example, concluded that those who drive at the legal THC limit—which is typically between two to five nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood—were not statistically more likely to be involved in an accident compared to people who haven’t used marijuana.
Separately, the Congressional Research Service in 2019 determined that while “marijuana consumption can affect a person’s response times and motor performance… studies of the impact of marijuana consumption on a driver’s risk of being involved in a crash have produced conflicting results, with some studies finding little or no increased risk of a crash from marijuana usage.”
Outside of this bill, Pennsylvania lawmakers have continued to pursue adult-use legalization in the state. Earlier this year, two legislators circulated a memo to build support for a comprehensive reform bill they plan to introduce, for example.
A bipartisan Senate duo is also in the process of crafting legislation to legalize cannabis across the commonwealth. They announced some details of the proposal earlier this year, but the bill has yet to be formally introduced.
Outside the legislature, Gov. Tom Wolf (D) said earlier this year that marijuana legalization was a priority as he negotiated the annual budget with lawmakers. However, his formal spending request didn’t contain legislative language to actually accomplish the cannabis policy change.
Wolf, who signed a medical cannabis expansion bill in June, has repeatedly called for legalization and pressured the Republican-controlled legislature to pursue the reform since coming out in favor of the policy in 2019. Shortly after he did that, a lawmaker filed a separate bill to legalize marijuana through a state-run model.
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D), who is running for U.S. Senate, previously led a listening tour across the state to solicit public input on legalization. He’s credited that effort with helping to move the governor toward embracing comprehensive reform. The lieutenant governor even festooned his Capitol office with marijuana-themed decor in contravention of a state law passed by the GOP-led legislature.
Fetterman has also been actively involved in encouraging the governor to exercise his clemency power for cannabis cases while the legislature moves to advance reform.
In May, Wolf pardoned a doctor who was arrested, prosecuted and jailed for growing marijuana that he used to provide relief for his dying wife. That marks his 96th pardon for people with cannabis convictions through the Expedited Review Program for Non-Violent Marijuana-Related Offenses that’s being run by the Board of Pardons.
Overall, legalization is popular among Pennsylvania voters, with 58 percent of residents saying they favor ending cannabis prohibition in a survey released in April.
Another poll released in May found that a majority of voters in the state also support decriminalizing all currently illicit drugs.
Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.
Marijuana Moment is made possible with support from readers. If you rely on our cannabis advocacy journalism to stay informed, please consider a monthly Patreon pledge.
CONTINUE READINGCULTURECalifornia State Fair Will Host Marijuana Competition For The First Time At 2022 Event, Officials AnnouncePublished 17 hours ago on September 21, 2021By Kyle Jaeger
California marijuana vendors will be able to take part in a first-of-its-kind, state-sanctioned cannabis competition at the State Fair next year, officials announced on Tuesday.
While marijuana companies have been participating in various, private competitions like the High Times Cannabis Cup for years, this marks the first time that a state government agency will be hosting such an event.
This announcement comes about five years after California voters approved an initiative to legalize marijuana for adult use. Marijuana competitors who attend the 2022 State Fair will be treated the same way as wine, beer and cheese vendors—a strong sign of the normalization of the cannabis industry.
“We are pleased to celebrate California’s legal and licensed cannabis industry as part of the CA State Fair in 2022,” California Exposition & State Fair Board of Director Jess Durfee said in a press release. “For the past 166 years, the CA State Fair has always been a first mover, leading the State Fair circuit with innovative programming and large-scale competitions that celebrate the best the state has to offer, making the addition of cannabis cultivation a natural new category.”
The California Exhibition & State Fair, which is an independent state agency established by law under California’s food and agriculture code, will be working with the marijuana marketing and events agency Cultivar Brands to give out awards for the event.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is an ex-officio member of the fair’s board of directors, as are several state lawmakers.
“The launch of state-sanctioned awards will showcase the California farmer, large and small, and the incredible cannabis flower that the state has to offer,” Cultivar Brands CEO Brian Applegarth said. “We will also educate, demystify the plant and challenge the stereotypes.”
Unlike many other private cannabis competitions, this one will not be judged based on the subjective assessments of marijuana enthusiasts. Rather, winners will be decided based on “science-based analysis performed and certified by SC Labs,” a cannabis testing operation.
The competition is open to all licensed marijuana cultivators in California, and entrants will be classified under separate groups for indoor-grown cannabis, outdoor and mixed light. A total of 77 medals will be awarded including the a “Golden Bear” trophy for “Best of California.”
The submission window for participants will last from November 1 of this year through March 30, 2022.
“SC Labs will provide all entrants with the required Certificates of Analysis (COAs), as well as a PhytoFacts® chemometric report that will identify all the unique compounds of the submission to determine the award winners,” the press release says.
“I’m really excited to be involved with the state fair because it is the traditional place where the agricultural community comes to show off their best work,” SC Labs President Josh Wurzer said. “This further validates cannabis as part of that community.”
On the other side of the country in New York, officials announced ahead of this year’s State Fair that, since cannabis was legalized in the state earlier this year, adults could consume marijuana in any place where tobacco use is permitted.
Although the California event will host the cannabis competition, officials clarified that “there will be NO sales or consumption of cannabis products containing THC at the CA State Fair in 2022.”
Photo courtesy of Kimberly Lawson.
Marijuana Moment is made possible with support from readers. If you rely on our cannabis advocacy journalism to stay informed, please consider a monthly Patreon pledge.
CONTINUE READINGPOLITICSHouse Will Vote On Marijuana Banking Reform As Part Of Defense BillPublished 19 hours ago on September 21, 2021By Kyle Jaeger
The full U.S. House of Representative will vote on an amendment to protect banks that service cannabis businesses from being penalized by federal regulators, a key committee decided on Tuesday.
The House Rules Committee made in order the amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2022, clearing it for floor consideration, which is expected later this week. Advocates are disappointed, however, that other cannabis and psychedelics reform measures were blocked by the panel.
One stalled amendment would have promoted research into the therapeutic potential of certain psychedelics like psilocybin and MDMA for active duty military members. Another would have codified that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) couldn’t deny home loan benefits to veterans just because they work in the cannabis industry.
Last week, Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA) had filed a separate amendment to require VA to conduct a clinical trial into the therapeutic benefits of marijuana for veterans with chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but the congressman withdrew it from consideration prior to an initial committee meeting on the defense legislation on Monday.
Here’s an overview of the drug policy measures that the House will consider:
Marijuana banking
Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) and a bipartisan list of cosponsors successfully fought to get a floor vote on adding language to NDAA that would prevent financial regulators from penalizing banks or credit unions that work with state-legal marijuana businesses. The congressman is the sponsor of the standalone Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, which has passed the House in various forms four times so far and is identical to the new amendment.
While the legislation is not directly connected to defense-related issues, it’s likely Perlmutter sees the must-pass NDAA as a potential vehicle for the reform that could make its way through the Senate, whereas all prior House-passed cannabis banking legislation has stalled to date.
At Monday’s Rules meeting, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA), who is managing the NDAA bill, acknowledged that while some members might consider certain amendments “superfluous” to defense spending matters, the annual legislation has been used as a vehicle to advance non-germane legislation in the past. He added, though, that doing so has historically required the issues at hand to have broad bipartisan support in order to survive the House-Senate conference committee process.
He didn’t specifically cite the cannabis banking proposal, but Perlmutter himself said earlier in the hearing that “whether something is superfluous is always in the eyes of the beholder,” signaling that he feels his measure’s germaneness in this context is up for interpretation.
Smith said that “whatever superfluous items the Rules Committee decides to put in order and get attached to this bill, we go to conference, and in conference, we work in a bipartisan fashion.”
“We’re not going to pull one over on anybody here. We’re going to have to work with committees of jurisdiction—not just the chairs, but the ranking members as well—to come to some agreement on those before we go forward,” he said. “So if you see an item that you consider to be superfluous being added to the bill, don’t freak out.”
The chair’s comments about needing support from leaders of committees of jurisdiction raise questions about whether the amendment stands a chance in conference with the Senate if it is approved by the House this week. Not only did House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Patrick McHenry (R-SC) vote against the standalone SAFE Banking Act this year and in 2019, but on the Senate side, even Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has been generally unenthusiastic about advancing the reform.
On the flip side, House Finance Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) is a supporter of the banking reform and brought it through her panel last Congress. Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Pat Toomey (R-PA), for his part, has previously voiced support for advancing the SAFE Banking Act.
At the Rules Committee hearing on Monday, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) spoke in favor of adding marijuana banking to the defense bill, arguing that there’s a “national security issue” related to illicit drug trafficking that the SAFE Banking Act could help to address.
Rules Committee Ranking Member Tom Cole (R-OK) agreed. He said that NDAA “may not be the most elegant vehicle” for cannabis banking reform, but he does think “there’s a security issue here, and I think that’s a very legitimate point [Davidson] made.”
Advocates who support broader cannabis reform said the banking measure is a good first step.
“It is critical to balance the need to accomplish comprehensive reform at the federal level and make every effort possible in the immediate term to support the successful state-level programs to ensure safe and efficient consumer access to quality cannabis that is cost-competitive with the unregulated market,” NORML Political Director Justin Strekal told Marijuana Moment. “For those reasons, we support the inclusion of the SAFE Banking Act in any piece of legislation that is going to be enacted into law”
Withhold funds for fumigation of drug crops in Colombia
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) filed an amendment approved to prohibit the use of funds for aerial fumigation on drug crops in Colombia, a practice widely criticized by reform and human rights advocates. It will get a vote when NDAA hits the floor. The House approved the language last year but receded to the Senate, which did not agree.
These proposed measures, meanwhile, were not made in order in the Rules Committee:
Psychedelics for active duty military
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), a veteran himself who recently moderated a conversation with a top psychedelics reform advocate, proposed a measure that would have allowed the secretary of defense to approve grants for research into the therapeutic potential of certain psychedelics such as MDMA, psilocybin, ibogaine and 5–MeO–DMT for active duty military members with PTSD. The Rules Committee blocked it from floor consideration, however.
The grants could have been awarded to federal or state agencies, academic institutions or non-profit organizations. Researchers would have needed to “conduct one or more phase two clinical trials for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder” involving either individual or group therapy. The grant money could also have been used to support training practitioners to treat eligible military members with psychedelics.
Until now, Crenshaw has consistently voted against marijuana and drug policy reform measures in Congress, including two prior amendments that were aimed at removing barriers to research on the benefits of psychedelics. His home state of Texas recently enacted a law to require officials to study the therapeutic potential of psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine for military veterans.
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Marijuana Moment is already tracking more than 1,200 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.
Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
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VA home loans for veterans in the cannabis industry
Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA) again pushed to stop VA from being able to deny home loans to veterans who work in the state-legal marijuana industry, but her amendment on the issue was not made in order for a floor vote.
“In the case of a person with documented income that is derived, in whole or in part, from working in the marijuana industry in compliance with the law of the State in which the work takes place, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs may not use the fact that such documented income is derived, in whole or in part, from working in the marijuana industry as a factor in determining whether to guarantee, issue, or make a housing loan under chapter 37 of title 38, United States Code,” the text of the amendment said.
In June, the Appropriations Committee approved a bill that includes a report acknowledging that VA has clarified that veterans are eligible for home loan benefits even if they work in a state-legal marijuana industry. However, it expressed disappointment that the agency hasn’t taken further action to communicate this policy to lenders and borrowers.
That spending bill report also directed VA to improve that communication and report back to Congress on its progress within 180 days of the enactment of the legislation.
A prior Clark amendment to address the problem was approved by the full House as part of a previous defense policy bill—though leaders in the chamber agreed to scrap it after the Senate didn’t include it in its version of the legislation.
A separate measure on racially discriminatory drug testing in the military was previously attached to NDAA in an earlier committee.
As approved in the House Armed Services Committee earlier this month, NDAA already includes report language voicing concern about racial disparities in military drug testing practices and ordering the Pentagon to conduct a review of the issue.
Unlike in past sessions, however, lawmakers did not file an amendment requiring the secretary of defense to issue regulations clarifying that military branches can grant reenlistment waivers to service members who have committed a single low-level marijuana offense.
It’s not clear why Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), who has consistently championed that cannabis measure, declined to introduce it this year.
Meanwhile, over in the Senate, the Appropriations Committee passed a measure last month that’s meant to promote military veterans’ access to medical marijuana by allowing VA doctors to issue cannabis recommendations in legal states. It would further prohibit VA from interfering with, or denying services to, veterans who participate in a state-legal medical cannabis program.
Reps. Conor Lamb (D-PA) and Peter Meijer (R-MI) filed a bill—titled the Fully Informed Veteran Act—in May that would simply allow VA doctors to provide basic information and resources about state-legal cannabis programs to veterans.
Last year, the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee approved legislation to expand medical cannabis research for veterans, as well as a separate proposal to allow VA doctors to issue medical marijuana recommendations to their patients in states where it’s legal.
Also in April, a bipartisan coalition of congressional lawmakers reintroduced legislation that would federally legalize medical marijuana for military veterans.
Image element courtesy of Tim Evanson.
Marijuana Moment is made possible with support from readers. If you rely on our cannabis advocacy journalism to stay informed, please consider a monthly Patreon pledge.
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