When marijuana is federally legalized, it should be normalized in global commerce with U.S. trade representatives advocating for domestic cannabis business interests, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
While that hasn\u2019t necessarily been addressed in legalization legislation that he\u2019s working on with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), the chairman said one in four jobs \u201crevolves around international trade\u201d and he thinks the U.S. should be looking ahead to \u201cthe days when cannabis becomes part of ongoing discussions that are conducted by trade officials.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wyden made the comments at an event organized by the National Cannabis Roundtable (NCR) and Leafly. Former U.S. Heath and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who now serves as an honorary co-chair of NRC, also attended the virtual briefing, which focused on job opportunities in the marijuana industry.<\/p>\n
Advocates and stakeholders have been closely following Wyden as he and his colleagues prepare to introduce a bill to end federal cannabis prohibition. The senator didn\u2019t quite reveal new details about the forthcoming proposal, but he did reiterate<\/a> the three policy \u201cpillars\u201d it will aim to address.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing we\u2019ve got to do is make sure that legalizing cannabis establishes an anti-racism policy,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cCannabis criminalization, the failed war on drugs, disproportionately harmed communities of color\u2014black and Hispanic Americans. And that harm\u2014for Senator Schumer, Senator Booker and myself\u2014really must be recognized.\u201d<\/p>\n The next priority is addressing the \u201cpublic health impacts of cannabis,\u201d Wyden said. That means lifting barriers to research to explore the plant\u2019s therapeutic potential.<\/p>\n \u201cThird, of course, is the staggering economic impact of legal cannabis,\u201d he said. He referenced an annual report from Leafly that analyzes job creation in the marijuana sector<\/a> and the potential for further expansion if federal prohibition is ended.<\/p>\n With respect to the economics of legalization, Wyden said he\u2019s especially interested in reforming a portion of the tax code known as 280E, which prevents state-legal cannabis businesses from claiming tax deductions and credits that are available to other industries.<\/p>\n \u201cI think 280E needs to go, and I am determined to get that done,\u201d he said. \u201cI made it clear to majority leadership and Senator Booker that that\u2019ll be a special cause of mine.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is really the dark ages in terms of dragging progressive, successful, innovative cannabis businesses back year after year after year,\u201d he said, \u201cand it also affects the lack access to banking services.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked when the highly anticipated legalization bill will be revealed, Wyden gave the same answer that Schumer tends to give<\/a>: \u201cvery soon.\u201d He added that the trio has \u201cmade a lot of headway\u201d and they\u2019ve \u201cbeen reaching out to people\u201d<\/a> to advise on the measure.<\/p>\n Schumer has similarly said that the proposal they\u2019re working on will \u201censure restorative justice, public health and implement responsible taxes and regulations.\u201d He also made a point in March to say that it will specifically seek to restrict the ability of large alcohol and tobacco companies to overtake the industry.<\/p>\n Instead,\u00a0it will prioritize small businesses<\/a>, particularly those owned by people from communities most impacted by prohibition, and focus on \u201cjustice, justice, justice\u2014as well as freedom,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The majority leader also urged voters to reach out to their congressional representatives and tell them that \u201cthis is long overdue.\u201d<\/p>\n On the House side, Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) said recently that he\u00a0plans to reintroduced his legalization bill<\/a>, the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which cleared the chamber last year but did not advance in the Senate under GOP control.<\/p>\n Stop Kicking Young People Out Of Jobs Training Program For Marijuana, Congressional Chairwoman Says<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Marijuana Industry Should Be Represented By U.S. Trade Officials After Legalization, Top Senate Chairman Says<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
When marijuana is federally legalized, it should be normalized in global commerce with U.S. trade representatives advocating for domestic cannabis business interests, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) said on Wednesday. While that hasn\u2019t necessarily been addressed in legalization legislation that he\u2019s working on with Senate Majority Leader ChuckContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47806"}],"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\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47806"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47807,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47806\/revisions\/47807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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