美女免费一级视频在线观看

A marijuana bill that some are calling a landmark piece of legislation recently advanced out of the Senate Banking Committee, signaling a potential step forward in allowing the marijuana industry to secure access to banking services — and to expand into a bigger market. 

However, despite the positive momentum at the bill’s back, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are questioning some of its long-term implications.

In September, a group of bipartisan lawmakers introduced the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation Banking Act (SAFER), which would give banks legal protection when they provide services to cannabis businesses.

It’s a noteworthy step that could allow the industry to grow further, given that state-legal cannabis businesses currently largely rely on cash. 

Smoking out security risks

While 39 states in the U.S. have legalized marijuana for recreational and/or medical use, marijuana’s federal status as a Schedule I substance has prevented banks from serving the industry.

Despite the Department of Health and Human Services sending a letter to the Drug Enforcement Agency over the summer asking for marijuana to be reclassified in a lower-risk drug category, the policy has not changed since the early 1970s.

This, in turn, causes headaches for cannabis business owners, who aren’t able to safely store cash in bank accounts and face security risks carrying around large amounts of cash.

The bill’s co-authors recognize that these businesses and their employees are blocked from accessing deposit accounts, securing lines of credit and other financial services such as commercial mortgages and accepting credit cards.

The SAFER bill would allow legal cannabis businesses to have access to bank accounts and small business loans, as well as other financial services.

Sen. Jeff Merkley, (D-Ore.), lead sponsor of the bill, noted in a statement that the bill’s passage in the Senate Banking Committee was a “historic moment.” He added that the bill was designed to end the so-called cannabis cash economy and argued it would help improve public safety.

“Forcing legal businesses to operate in all-cash is dangerous for our communities; it’s an open invitation to robberies, muggings, money laundering and organized crime,” he said.

The cannabis cash economy has caused problems for business owners for some time now, with many calling on policymakers to change requirements around financial institutions.

“All this cash flowing around is just a recipe for disaster,” Smoke Wallin, CEO of hemp product company Vertical Wellness, told Reuters in 2021. “How do you account for it? Where do you keep it? How do you move it? Even in a safe, it’s a security risk for employees.”

Overcoming obstacles 

Still, while the American Journal of Endocannabinoid Medicine noted that the bill received bipartisan support in the Senate Banking Committee, it will face significant hurdles in its journey to pass on the Senate floor and then the Republican-controlled House.

In order to pass the Senate, the SAFER Banking Act would need 60 votes, and it will likely face further hurdles from both Democrats and Republicans in the House.

GOP leaders have expressed concerns that the SAFER Banking Act would make it easier for businesses to hide illegal activity.

Additionally, the bill faces opposition from certain Democrats, like Sen. Raphael Warnock, (D-Ga.), who warned that the bill could further exacerbate the racial wealth gap in the cannabis industry and “just make the comfortable more comfortable,” according to The Hill. 

Warnock also called out what he deemed the failures of the U.S.’ decades-long War on Drugs along with the lack of criminal justice provisions in SAFER.

“This bill will make life safer for bankers, for businesses and financial institutions, some of whom have been profiting from the cannabis industry illegally for years, which is ironic given many of the regular folks who illegally sold or used cannabis are sitting in jail cells right now,” Warnock said.

Meanwhile, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, (D-Mass.), argued that less than 5% of cannabis business owners are Black. That means that much of the $33 billion in profits this year from the industry wouldn’t be going toward Black communities and SAFER would do little for that population.

On the other hand, Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, both of Colorado, applauded the bill, stating that forcing legal cannabis businesses into cash-only operations “creates more opportunity for crime” and that the vote brings the country “one step closer to the entire nation following Colorado’s lead.”