Replies to post #2914 on Cresco Labs Inc (CRLBF)

[FUNMAN]

You Go Jerry

House Committee Will Vote On Federal Marijuana Legalization Bill Next Week, Days After Banking Reform Advances

Published 3 days ago on September 24, 2021
By Kyle Jaeger

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/house-committee-will-vote-on-federal-marijuana-legalization-bill-next-week-days-after-banking-reform-advances/

A bill to federally legalize marijuana will be voted on by the House Judiciary Committee next week, the panel announced on Friday.

The development comes one day after the House voted in favor of a defense spending bill that includes an amendment that would protect banks that service state-legal cannabis businesses from being penalized by federal regulators.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler’s (D-NY) Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act will receive a markup on Wednesday. The panel will consider a dozen pieces of legislation during the meeting, according to a press release. That includes his bill to “decriminalize marijuana federally and invest in communities that have been disproportionately harmed by the War on Drugs,” Nadler said.

“Many of these bills were reported out of the committee and passed by the full House of Representatives last Congress, and I look forward to working with all my colleagues once again to get these bills through Congress and on to the president’s desk,” the chairman said.

Nadler’s cannabis legislation passed the House last year but did not advance in the Senate under GOP control. This time around, advocates are optimistic that something like the chairman’s bill could be enacted now that Democrats run both chambers and the White House, and as more states are moving to enact legalization.

The legislation would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), allow people with cannabis convictions to have their records expunged and create a federal tax on marijuana with the revenue going to support community reinvestment and other programs.

It also contains language to create a pathway for resentencing for those incarcerated for cannabis offenses, protect immigrants from being denied citizenship over marijuana and prevent federal agencies from denying public benefits or security clearance due to its use.

“We are excited to see Chairman Nadler and House leadership move forward once again with passing the MORE Act,” Justin Strekal, political director of NORML, said. “Public support and state-policy demand for repealing federal marijuana criminalization has never been higher and Congressional action on this legislation is long overdue. The days of federal marijuana prohibition are numbered.”

There’s been some contention between advocates and stakeholders on which reform should come first: the bipartisan banking legislation that’s cleared the House in some form five times now or the comprehensive legalization bill that passed the chamber for the first time late last year.

Legalization advocates do want to see legislation from Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) become enacted, as there are public safety problems caused by all-cash businesses and it would take an important step toward normalizing the growing industry. But social equity-minded activists argue that advancing the incremental reform first would mainly benefit large marijuana businesses without addressing the harms of cannabis criminalization.

The fate of the banking proposal will likely be decided in conference with the Senate, which has not included the policy change in its National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and where key lawmakers have insisted that they will push for broader reform before allowing the incremental change to be enacted.

Separately, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (R-OR) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) are also leading the charge on a legalization bill in their chamber. But weeks after a public comment period on a draft version of the proposal closed, finalized text has yet to be formally filed—and it’s far from certain that Schumer will be able to find enough votes to advance the comprehensive reform through his chamber.

It should be noted that President Joe Biden remains firmly opposed to adult-use marijuana legalization. While he supports more modest reforms such as decriminalizing cannabis, expunging prior records and letting states set their own marijuana policies, there’s an open question about whether he would be moved to sign a broad bill like the MORE Act or the Senate legalization legislation should such a proposal reach his desk.

With respect to the MORE Act, the latest version does not include language that was added just before last year’s House floor vote that would have prevented people with previous cannabis convictions from obtaining federal permits to operate marijuana businesses. That was a contentious provision that appeared at the last minute and which advocates strongly opposed.

And whereas the the prior version of the legislation contained language to help economically disadvantaged people enter the legal marijuana market, that language was revised to extend Small Business Administration (SBA) aid—such as loans, financial literacy programs and job training—to help people who have been harmed by the war on drugs pursue business opportunities in any industry, not just cannabis.

Advocates are encouraged by the new revisions to the bill, but there are still additional components they hope to see changed as it goes through the legislative process. For example, they also took issue with provisions added to the MORE Act prior to last year’s vote that would have stipulated that cannabis can still be included in drug testing programs for federal workers.

The current version of the MORE Act has 66 cosponsors, including seven lawmakers that signed on this week. All are Democrats.

Separately, a proposal to federally deschedule marijuana that does not include social equity components was filed by a pair of Republican congressmen in May.

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Republicans in Pennsylvania pushing for legalization. They want to own the issue.

GOP Pennsylvania Senator With Federal Law Enforcement Background To File Marijuana Legalization Bill

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/gop-pennsylvania-senator-with-federal-law-enforcement-background-to-file-marijuana-legalization-bill/

Published 1 day ago on October 4, 2021
By Kyle Jaeger

A Republican Pennsylvania senator and former federal law enforcement agent announced on Monday that he will be filing a bill to legalize marijuana in the state—and he’s asking his colleagues to join him in the effort.

Sen. Mike Regan (R), who chairs a key committee with jurisdiction over law enforcement issues, characterized legalization as “inevitable” and is circulating a cosponsorship memo to build support for the forthcoming measure. Before taking office, he served as a U.S. marshal, making it all the more notable that he’s taking this step to end criminalization and enact a system of regulated cannabis sales for adults.

“I had the opportunity to work in federal law enforcement at the height of the drug war, so I know the seriousness of drug use,” Regan wrote. “But I am also cognizant that there has been a significant decline in arrests and prosecutions for personal use amounts of marijuana in recent years.”

“Our law enforcement agencies and justice system do not have the manpower or time to handle these minor marijuana offenses that clog our courts and produce little return,” he said. “Instead, police and prosecutors need to focus on protecting our residents from the violent criminals and large-scale drug importers that are also dealing in heroin and fentanyl, which kill thousands of Pennsylvanians each year.”

Given the senator’s law enforcement credentials and relationships with GOP colleagues who have been historically resistant to Democratic-led pushes for legalization, Regan’s move could help shift the conversation in the legislature.

Under the senator’s proposal, portions of tax revenue from marijuana sales would support law enforcement and after-school programs for disadvantaged youth. He noted estimates that Pennsylvania could eventually bring in $1 billion annually in cannabis revenue.

Just last week, a separate pair of state lawmakers—Reps. Jake Wheatley (D) and Dan Frankel (D)—formally unveiled a legalization bill they’re proposing. That one would prioritize social equity for communities most harmed by the war on drugs, in part by allocating 15 percent of revenue for community reinvestment.

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D), who is running for U.S. Senate, told Marijuana Moment in a phone interview on Monday that there may be disputes between legislators over how tax revenue should be distributed, but Regan’s proposal overall is “significant” because it breaks with the largely partisan sentiment surrounding legalization in the GOP-controlled legislature.

He said he’s “definitely” encouraged by this latest development.

Last week’s unveiling of the Democratic-led House legalization bill also comes as a bipartisan Senate duo is also in the process of crafting separate legislation to legalize cannabis across the commonwealth. Sens. Sharif Street (D) and Dan Laughlin (R) announced some details of the proposal earlier this year, but their bill has yet to be formally introduced.

Here are some of the details of the Regan bill outlined in the cosponsorship memo:

Legalize adult-use marijuana for those 21 years of age and older;

Establish a new regulatory control board;

Remove penalties for use and possession by adults;

Protect the Commonwealth’s medical marijuana program;

Allow for the legal purchase and possession of firearms regardless of one’s choice to use marijuana;

Provide for social equity, inclusion, and assistance for business entry into the industry;

Address DUI enforcement;

Develop education and deterrents for underage use and possession; and
Enhance Pennsylvania’s agricultural industry.

“For those questioning my sponsorship of such legislation, it is important to recognize that legalization of adult-use marijuana in Pennsylvania is inevitable,” Regan, who serves as the chairman of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, wrote a separate op-ed on the measure:

“I am stepping up to be a leader on the issue, as I did on medical marijuana,” he said. “And I am doing so using a common-sense, bi-partisan, bi-cameral approach that will provide Pennsylvanians access to a safe product, create thousands of jobs, level the playing field with neighboring states, support law enforcement and our communities, and more importantly, defund the deadly drug cartels who have wreaked so much havoc on the Commonwealth and our country for so many years.”

While broad cannabis legalization proposals have not moved forward in the GOP-controlled legislature, Pennsylvania senators heard testimony last month on a bill to protect medical marijuana patients from being prosecuted under the state’s “zero tolerance” DUI laws.

Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R) first introduced an earlier version of the 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.

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.

On Monday, the governor tweeted that he’s “all for legalizing adult-use recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania.”

“For me to sign, the bill must include efforts to restore justice to Pennsylvanians who have been over-punished for marijuana offenses,” he said. “General Assembly: Let’s talk.”

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 marked 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.

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Another good one for CRESCO--->>>Why New York Is Poised to Become the New Cannabis Capital

These articles are significant for CRESCO because because it means that their existing infrastructure will generate huge increases in revenue, up from restricted med legal, to free spirited rec legal.

WOW - FUNMAN

A senator-led 'nation-leading' summit is just the start.

By Maureen Meehan
September 24, 2021
This story originally appeared on Benzinga

https://www.greenentrepreneur.com/article/387342

New York State Sen. Liz Krueger will detail the state's model for cannabis legalization at an upcoming conference, Business of Cannabis, to be held Sept. 29. This will be the first major cannabis summit since the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA) was approved in March 2021.

Now that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has completed the formation of the state's marijuana regulatory board with Wednesday's final two appointments, the Empire State is ready to move after months of delay.

According to a press release, Krueger, a Democrat and lead sponsor of the MRTA, will be joined by more than 300 of the most influential leaders in policy, business, law and finance for a day-long program of keynote talks, panels and networking to develop a workable roadmap for the future of the new cannabis industry in New York.

To be held at the Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center, speakers will include State Sen. Brad Hoylman and analyst Pablo Zuanic of Cantor Fitzgerald.

New York's future is bright...and lit

Prohibition Partners, a cannabis data and analysis firm, estimates total sales of medical and adult-use cannabis in New York will reach $2.6 billion in 2022, rising to $3.9 billion by 2025.

“New York is poised to implement a nation-leading model for what marijuana legalization can look like by legalizing adult-use cannabis in a way that foregrounds racial justice, while balancing safety with economic growth, encouraging new small businesses, and significantly diminishing the illegal market," Krueger said, adding that her goal has always been to end the racially disparate enforcement of marijuana prohibition that has taken such a toll on communities of color across the state.

"The economic windfall of legalization to help heal and repair those same communities. It will be critical that these goals are prioritized as MRTA is implemented in the months ahead.”

Already the global capital of corporate finance, New York’s "nation-leading marijuana legalization model" could result in the Big Apple becoming the largest cannabis market in North America and in turn, even by proxy, the cannabis capital of the world.



Don't be jealous, Boston

Jay Rosenthal, president of Business of Cannabis, said: “As a Bostonian, it pains me that New York leads on anything – be it baseball or cannabis – but the truth is that New York is poised to become the global leader in cannabis. Being able to present Business of Cannabis: New York is a privilege.”

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Senators’ Defense Bill Amendment Would Legalize Medical Cannabis For Military Veterans

Published 3 days ago on November 5, 2021

By Kyle Jaeger

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/senators-defense-bill-amendment-would-legalize-medical-cannabis-for-military-veterans/

Senators could vote on another marijuana-related amendment to a must-pass defense bill that was filed on Thursday. Again, as was the case with a separate recently introduced research-related proposal, it’s not the cannabis banking legislation that stakeholders have been waiting for—but it would have broad implications for federal policy nonetheless.

The new amendment—filed Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Gary Peters (D-MI)—would add language to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to federally legalize medical marijuana for military veterans who comply with a state program where they live.

Physicians with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) would also be allowed for the first time to issue such recommendations.

Further, it would require VA to study the therapeutic potential of marijuana for pain and reducing opioid misuse.

Separately on Thursday, the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee approved a bill that would require VA to conduct clinical trials on the medical benefits of cannabis for military veterans with PTSD and chronic pain.

The Senate defense legislation amendment is identical to a standalone bill—the Veterans Medical Marijuana Safe Harbor Act—that Schatz filed in April. That measure currently has eight cosponsors, while a House companion version has 14 cosponsors.

Under current federal policy, VA allows its physicians to talk about cannabis use with veterans, but they’re prohibited from issuing recommendations that would allow their patients to obtain medical marijuana from state-legal markets.

Earlier versions of the standalone legislation were introduced in the last two Congresses but did not advance.

For the fiscal years 2022 and 2023, the amendment would set aside $15 million for VA to carry out the mandated medical cannabis research.

The legalization and physician recommendation provisions of the legislation would expire after five years, unless renewed by Congress.

This is the second cannabis amendment to be filed for NDAA.

Schatz and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) are also pushing to attach language to the large-scale legislation that deals with removing barriers to research on marijuana’s effects. It’s intended to streamline the application process for researchers who want to investigate cannabis as well as manufacture the plant to be used in studies.

That amendment is identical to standalone legislation that the senators filed in February, alongside Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA). The Senate unanimously approved an earlier version of that bill late last year, but it was not taken up by the House by the end of the session.

The research proposal would also clarify that physicians are allowed to discuss the risks and benefits of marijuana with patients and require the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to submit a report on those potential health benefits, as well one on barriers to cannabis research and how to overcome those obstacles.

Dozens of other amendments have filed for NDAA so far, and industry stakeholders are eager to see if the Senate follows the lead of the House and inserts language meant to protect banks that service state-legal marijuana businesses.

For now, the research and veterans amendments are the only cannabis-related measures that have been submitted, but it’s not yet clear when the overall bill will come to the Senate floor. If no senator files a banking amendment, the issue’s fate will be decided by a bicameral conference committee charged with reconciling the differences between the two chambers’ versions of the bill before sending a final proposal to the president.

Senate leadership has spent a lot of time thinking about marijuana policy priorities this session, with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) saying repeatedly that they think comprehensive reform should advance before banking.

That said, Schumer did say during a recent podcast interview that he’s open to approving banking as part of the defense legislation if it contains social equity components. Booker, for his part, has been more obstinate, saying he “will lay myself down” to block any other senators who seek to pass marijuana banking legislation ahead of broad, justice-focused legalization.

Meanwhile, Feinstein, Schatz and Grassley separately filed the research amendment as part of a massive infrastructure bill earlier this year, but it was not given consideration on the floor.

House lawmakers, for their part, also passed legislation last year to expand cannabis research, but that bill did not advance in the Senate. The House bill, which would allow scientists to study the marijuana that consumers are actually purchasing at dispensaries, was reintroduced last month.

Congressional legislators are also advancing a separate strategy to open up dispensary cannabis to researchers. Large-scale infrastructure legislation that has passed both chambers in differing forms and which is pending final action, expected as soon as Friday, contains provisions aimed at allowing researchers to study dispensary cannabis instead of having to use only government-grown cannabis.

The Senate research measure filed by Feinstein and Schatz includes no such provision to allow scientists to study dispensary cannabis, however.