Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi touched a raw nerve in America\u2019s culture wars when she stood up for a provision long sought by the cannabis industry as a condition in the Democrats\u2019 coronavirus recovery package. It turned into a public spat with the Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and won Pelosi much derision from conservatives.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A review of the facts reveals that, even if Pelosi did not play her cards impeccably, the provision isn\u2019t so funny after all. And neither is the notion that cannabis is \u201cessential\u201d in this time of crisis.<\/p>\n
At issue is the Secure & Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, which has now been folded into the Democrats\u2019 recovery package. The SAFE Banking Act\u00a0passed the House<\/a>\u00a0last September but faces a challenge in the Republican-controlled Senate. The measure would reform banking regulations impacting institutions that handle cannabis-related accounts \u2013 allowing cannabis businesses operating in conformity with state law to access financial services. A group of attorneys general from 38 states and territories\u00a0penned an open letter<\/a>\u00a0urging Congress to pass the bill last year.<\/p>\n Under current federal law, financial institutions face stiff penalties for carrying out business with cannabis enterprises, as the 1970 Controlled Substance Act classes cannabis a Schedule 1 controlled substance, with no legitimate medical purpose.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n At a July 31\u00a0press conference<\/a>, Pelosi was challenged by a reporter, who said that the SAFE Banking Act was \u201cnot directly related to COVID.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t agree with you that cannabis is not related to this,\u201d Pelosi replied, according to a transcript from\u00a0The Hill<\/a>. \u201cThis is a therapy that has proven successful.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n With Congress notoriously deadlocked on the package, it was inevitable GOP leaders would seize on this remark as propaganda ammo.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Democrats\u2019 $3.4 trillion stimulus package, dubbed the Health & Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, was approved by the House in May. It notes that the controversial provision would allow \u201caccess to financial services to cannabis-related legitimate businesses and service providers,\u201d while limiting the amount of cash handled by those businesses.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Senate Republicans have countered with a $1.1 trillion package, the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection & Schools (HEALS) Act. As\u00a0USA Today<\/a>\u00a0notes, it also includes some measures that are pretty extraneous to the COVID-19 crisis \u2013 such as approximately $1.8 billion in funding for a new FBI building at its current location in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n McConnell (despite having\u00a0shepherded through<\/a>\u00a0the 2018 Farm Bill that legalized hemp and hemp-derived CBD) wasted little time in pouncing on Pelosi\u2019s comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShe said that, with respect to this virus, marijuana is \u2018a therapy that has proven successful.\u2019 You can\u2019t make this up,\u201d he said, according to C-SPAN footage transcribed by\u00a0Marijuana Moment<\/a>.\u00a0He added with smug sarcasm:\u00a0\u201cI hope she shares her breakthrough with Dr. Fauci\u201d \u2013 a reference to\u00a0National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases<\/a>\u00a0director Anthony Fauci, leading figure on the White House Coronavirus Task Force.<\/p>\n House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy\u00a0tweeted<\/a>: \u201cIncredibly irresponsible \u2013 Pelosi just doubled down on her $3 trillion dollar cannabis legislation, falsely claiming that it\u2019s a proven therapy for coronavirus. Hey Nancy, let\u2019s focus on the pandemic. Not pot.\u201d<\/p>\n The next to pounce was the anti-legalization lobbying group\u00a0Smart Approaches to Marijuana<\/a>, which said that including the provision \u201cmakes no sense.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNumerous industries have been forced to completely shut down and have made great sacrifices to comply with shutdowns and limitations on their business operations. The marijuana industry has been a painfully obvious exception to this. This industry has used its lobbying arm to force state officials to keep their storefronts open, sued leaders who shut them down, and bragged incessantly about their revenues,\u201d SAM President Kevin Sabet said, according to\u00a0The Hill<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cSimply put, we cannot allow much-needed aid bills such as this to be loaded up with the wish lists of Big Pot,\u201d he concluded. \u201cThankfully, due to conversations with key members of Congress and continued advocacy by SAM\u2019s supporters, it is unlikely these provisions will make it to the president\u2019s desk.\u201d<\/p>\n But the\u00a0National Cannabis Industry Association<\/a>\u00a0was just as quick with the counter-punch, stressing the importance of the industry\u2019s ability to avoid handling cash during the pandemic.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven the nearly quarter of a million people employed by the cannabis industry and the potential dangers associated with being essential service providers during this pandemic, it is vital that these workers not be forced to deal with additional risks created by cash-only transactions. We strongly urge the House to pass this legislation and hope the Senate will seriously consider the health and safety impacts caused by lack of access to banking,\u201d an NCAI official was quoted by The Hill.<\/p>\n Pelosi admittedly committed a tactical error in implying (although not actually stating) that cannabis has \u201cproven successful\u201d in treating COVID-19.\u00a0The Food & Drug Administration has already sent warning letters to companies making claims about the benefits of CBD products in treating coronavirus, according to\u00a0USA Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, granting Pelosi some wiggle room, we can note that cannabis has other therapeutic properties that become more critical in times of crisis \u2013 such as stress relief. This may be evidenced by\u00a0booming sales<\/a>\u00a0in states that have legalized, in spite of record levels of unemployment.<\/p>\n But cannabinoids may indeed hold therapeutic potential for COVID-19 \u2013 even if it has not yet been \u201cproven.\u201d\u00a0CBS News<\/a>\u00a0reports that scientists at the University of Nebraska and\u00a0Texas Biomedical Research Institute<\/a>\u00a0are recommending the study of CBD as a potential treatment for lung inflammation caused by COVID-19. The scholars put out their call last month in a\u00a0peer-reviewed article in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity<\/a>\u00a0journal.<\/p>\n Emily Earlenbaugh of\u00a0Mindful Cannabis Consulting<\/a>\u00a0explained to CBSN that the researchers\u2019 hopes pin upon CBD\u2019s ability to affect cytokines\u2014proteins involved in cell signaling and especially critical in inflammation and immune response. In COVID-19 patients, the immune system can overreact and release too many cytokines, creating a so-called \u201ccytokine storm.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCytokines will normally help to create inflammation to fight off infections,\u201d Earlenbaugh said. \u201cBut in these extreme cases, you see so much cytokines being released into the system that it creates a cytokine storm. You might see high fever, inflammation, severe fatigue and nausea, and in serious cases, it can lead to death through organ failure.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Research has already shown CBD\u2019s effectiveness in inhibiting production of one cytokine, known as IL-6.<\/p>\n An overview of the research by\u00a0Project CBD<\/a>\u00a0notes that British medical journal\u00a0The Lancet<\/a>\u00a0has drawn attention to \u201caccumulating evidence\u201d that indicates \u201cpatients with severe COVID-19 might have a cytokine storm syndrome.\u201d A report in\u00a0Science Daily<\/a>\u00a0cites findings that this syndrome may have been behind many of the 50 million deaths associated with the 1918-20 \u201cSpanish flu\u201d pandemic. A 2015 study in\u00a0Mediators of Inflammation<\/a>\u00a0journal found CBD inhibited IL-6 cytokine production in asthma patients.<\/p>\n In an analysis for\u00a0Project CBD<\/a>,\u00a0Dr. Matthew Elmes, director of new product development for California cannabis company\u00a0Care By Design<\/a>,\u00a0saw a possible role for CBD in treating COVID-19, but warned that \u201cclickbait headlines\u201d risked delegitimizing the entire enterprise before the research is in. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cUnvetted science is fueling COVID-19 misinformation,\u201d Elmes wrote. \u201cMore than ever, we need the critical eye of scientists during the peer-review process to help vet the bullsh*t.\u201d<\/p>\n TELL US<\/strong>, do you think cannabis businesses are essential?<\/p>\n The post Mitch McConnell & Anti-Pot Lobbyists Criticize Speaker Pelosi Over COVID Relief Bill<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi touched a raw nerve in America\u2019s culture wars when she stood up for a provision long sought by the cannabis industry as a condition in the Democrats\u2019 coronavirus recovery package. It turned into a public spat with the Republican Senate Majority Leader MitchContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,13218,13342,170,3764,7158,7565],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43979"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43979"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43980,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43979\/revisions\/43980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Cultural Conservatives Hit Back<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Cannabis and COVID-19: What the Science Says<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: Mitch McConnell & Anti-Pot Lobbyists Criticize Speaker Pelosi Over COVID Relief Bill<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"