Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says he and colleagues working to advance a federal marijuana legalization bill have an \u201cagreement\u201d that the body will not take up cannabis banking legislation until more comprehensive reform advances.<\/p>\n
That said, he\u2019s open to exploring an alternative way of advancing banking reform if lawmakers are able to incorporate social equity provisions of legalization\u2014such as expungements for prior cannabis convictions\u2014into separate defense policy legislation that the chamber will be taking up soon.<\/p>\n
Whether either proposal would be embraced by President Joe Biden if they were sent to his desk is yet to be seen, but Schumer said he\u2019s going lobbying him \u201cheavily\u201d on legalization.<\/p>\n
The majority leader made the new comments in an interview on Drug Policy Alliance founder Ethan Nadelmann\u2019s podcast Psychoactive that was released on Thursday. Schumer said there is consensus between him, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) on blocking legislation that would simply protect financial institutions that work with state-legal cannabis businesses until a social equity-focused legalization bill moves forward.<\/p>\n
\nThe discussion got at the heart of a debate that\u2019s been ongoing among advocates and industry stakeholders.<\/p>\n
On the one hand, there\u2019s bipartisan legislation called the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act that stands a strong chance of passage in Congress. It\u2019s been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives five times now, most recently as an amendment to a defense spending bill<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n On the other hand, there\u2019s a draft proposal to holistically end federal marijuana prohibition that Schumer is sponsoring. And on the House side, the Judiciary Committee on Thursday is expected to approve a separate legalization measure<\/a> from Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).<\/p>\n \u201cWhy not let [banking reform] move forward while the long-term process of the legalization bill needs to work itself through?\u201d Nadelmann asked.<\/p>\n \u201cSenators Booker, Wyden and I have come to agreement that if we let [the banking bill] out, it\u2019ll make it much harder and take longer to pass comprehensive reform,\u201d Schumer replied. \u201cWe certainly want the provisions, similar to the SAFE Banking Act, in our bill. But to get more moderate people\u2014to get some Republicans, to get the financial services industry\u2014behind a comprehensive bill is the way to go. It\u2019s the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n It’s #InternationalPodcastDay<\/a>, and it would be a great day for you to check out the podcast I just taped with @EthanNadelmann<\/a>.<\/p>\n It’s about working to end the federal prohibition on marijuana and undo the harms of the War on Drugs.https:\/\/t.co\/v282vARFON<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) September 30, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n While the senator has previously expressed reluctance to advancing marijuana banking reform first\u2014including in an interview with Marijuana Moment in April<\/a>\u2014these latest comments about an \u201cagreement\u201d to block the financial services reform put the situation in starkest terms yet.<\/p>\n \u201cAll the pain that\u2019s been suffered by so many people for so long will not be alleviated because banks can now do some funding of the growing and processing of marijuana,\u201d he added. \u201cWe think that the quickest way to get it all done is to do it together. If you let just the banking provisions pass, it\u2019ll make it much harder to get more Republicans and more conservatives on the bill.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re trying to create a coalition for comprehensive reform and don\u2019t want to pick one off.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In other words, if there was any uncertainty about the senators\u2019 legislative priorities for marijuana, the majority leader says a line has been drawn in the sand: Legalization first.<\/p>\n At the same time, however, Schumer did not rule out incorporating some cannabis reform proposals into the Senate\u2019s version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) if other justice-focused provisions can be added as well. That legislation is where SAFE Banking sponsor Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) managed to attach his banking amendment in the House, but it lacks many of the social equity provisions that advocates want to see.<\/p>\n Nadelmann asked the majority leader if it would make sense to add things such as expungements on top of banking to sweeten the deal.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, everything should be explored, and if people in the Senate can add some things on, that would make it more of a palliative. But again, I don\u2019t want to bargain against myself here,\u201d Schumer replied. \u201cWe need comprehensive reform. That\u2019s what we need.\u201d<\/p>\n Schumer recognized that freeing up banks to work with marijuana businesses without being penalized by federal regulators would have some equity implications, enabling some disadvantaged communities to obtain access to capital needed to participate in the market.<\/p>\n However, he stressed that \u201cwater goes downhill,\u201d and most of the benefits would go to \u201cfat cat, more well-to-do people, so you\u2019ve got to be really careful about that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not arguing against the specifics. I\u2019m just telling you that it\u2019s my view that, if we are in range of getting comprehensive reform and we\u2019re making great progress,\u201d the Senate should leverage that opportunity to enact a broad policy change.<\/p>\n \u201cRemember, as majority leader, I can determine what\u2019s put on the floor,\u201d he added. \u201c[Then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)] said he\u2019d never put a legalization or decriminalization bill on the floor. I will when we get the votes and build the coalition, and the [SAFE Banking Act] will be part of that coalition.\u201d<\/p>\n Nadelmann pressed Schumer about ongoing reluctance among certain members of his own party, including Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Jon Tester (D-MT), to embrace legalization.<\/p>\n Schumer replied by stressing that the proposal won\u2019t pass \u201cunless we get bipartisan support,\u201d but he also noted that as the legalization movement has spread to states of all political leanings, there\u2019s a greater chance that former opponents could back reform this round.<\/p>\n Another obstacle to broad reform is Biden, who supports modest proposals such as decriminalizing cannabis possession and letting states set their own marijuana policies, but remains opposed to adult-use legalization. Asked whether he\u2019s had discussions with the White House about his legislation, Schumer said Biden has been \u201cpreoccupied with a lot of stuff, but I am going to lobby him heavily on this issue. And, you know, I\u2019ve had a few conversations, but not many\u2014but it will increase.\u201d<\/p>\n In a brief aside, Schumer was asked if he ever smoked cannabis in his youth. The majority leader said \u201cno, I never smoked marijuana myself.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut you know, I believe that just because I didn\u2019t, people should make their choices and not have the government, particularly in a crazy legal system and criminal justice system, impose it,\u201d he said, adding that he was \u201cin the minority\u201d of his peers in college who didn\u2019t indulge.<\/p>\n Nadelmann also recently hosted a newsmaking conversation with National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Nora Volkow on his podcast. During that episode, the official acknowledged that marijuana legalization has not led to increased youth use<\/a> despite her prior fears, and she spoke about the therapeutic potential of certain psychedelics that have long been deemed \u201cdangerous\u201d under federal law.<\/p>\n Federal Marijuana Legalization Vote Expected In House Committee On Thursday<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of WeedPornDaily<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Chuck Schumer Says Key Senators Have \u2018Agreement\u2019 Not To Advance Marijuana Banking Reform Before Legalization<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says he and colleagues working to advance a federal marijuana legalization bill have an \u201cagreement\u201d that the body will not take up cannabis banking legislation until more comprehensive reform advances. That said, he\u2019s open to exploring an alternative way of advancing banking reform ifContinue 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\/50241"}],"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=50241"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50242,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50241\/revisions\/50242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Chuck Schumer Says Key Senators Have \u2018Agreement\u2019 Not To Advance Marijuana Banking Reform Before Legalization<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"