Close Menu
  • Home
  • News
  • Lifestyle
  • Law
  • Business
  • Education

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

What's Hot

California Governor Touts Results of Intoxicating Hemp Ban

May 9, 2025

California Governor Touts Results of Intoxicating Hemp Ban

May 9, 2025

Pennsylvania House Passes Cannabis Legalization Bill

May 8, 2025
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Saturday, May 10
  • Home
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram LinkedIn VKontakte
Smoke Professional
  • Home
  • News

    More Than 1,000 Arrested in Sweep of U.K. Weed Grows

    July 8, 2023

    Scotland Calls On UK To End ‘Failed’ Drug War With Decriminalization And Harm Reduction Approach

    July 8, 2023

    Germany’s draft law for first phase of cannabis reform

    July 8, 2023

    High Times Cannabis Cup Illinois: People’s Choice Edition 2023 Kicks Off

    July 8, 2023

    Pennsylvania Committee Advances Expansion to State Medical Cannabis Program

    July 7, 2023
  • Lifestyle

    How Watching the News Can Trigger Anxiety and Panic Attacks

    October 28, 2024

    Record High Cannabis and Hallucinogen Use Among Adults

    October 27, 2024

    Weekend Sleep Catch-Up May Lower Heart Disease Risk by 20%

    October 27, 2024

    Energy Drinks Linked to Poor Sleep Quality and Insomnia

    October 26, 2024

    First Psychedelic Church for Magic Mushrooms

    October 26, 2024
  • Law

    Pennsylvania House Passes Cannabis Legalization Bill

    May 8, 2025

    Nebraska Lawmakers to Reconsider Bill to Implement Voter-Approved Medical Cannabis Law

    May 7, 2025

    Bill to Legalize Adult-Use Cannabis Filed in Pennsylvania

    May 6, 2025

    New Hampshire Senate Blocks Adult-Use Cannabis Legalization Bill

    May 2, 2025

    Cannabis Taxation: C Corp, S Corp, LLC, LLP, Partnership, Nonprofit, or Something Else for Your Cannabis Business?

    April 30, 2025
  • Business

    California Governor Touts Results of Intoxicating Hemp Ban

    May 9, 2025

    California Governor Touts Results of Intoxicating Hemp Ban

    May 9, 2025

    Cannabis Company CEO Considering New Mexico Gubernatorial Bid

    May 8, 2025

    U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Hear Challenge to Medical Cannabis Advertising Ban

    May 8, 2025

    Minnesota Cannabis Licensing Lotteries Scheduled for June 5

    May 7, 2025
  • Education

    CBD and the Aging Population—What Science Says Today

    March 12, 2025

    Wholesale Nootropic Skincare: Boost Your Product Line

    March 10, 2025

    Ideal for Your Business Needs

    March 8, 2025

    A Must-have For Every Smoke Shop

    March 3, 2025

    The Perfect Addition to Your Product Line

    March 1, 2025
Smoke Professional
You are at:Home»News»Declaring Independence From Congressional Inaction On Marijuana (Op-Ed)
News

Declaring Independence From Congressional Inaction On Marijuana (Op-Ed)

adminBy adminJuly 4, 2023No Comments5 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

“The fight for cannabis freedom will continue and, given the divided nature of Congress, it will be long.”

By: Justin Strekal, BOWL PAC Founder

This Fourth of July, cannabis advocates and industry interests alike will likely make wisecracks about celebrating freedom and watching the sky light up with fireworks while it remains federally illegal to light up a joint. 

But the rest of July offers the reform movement its first real opportunity for a Senate committee markup on a bill that addresses marijuana policy reform. 

Readers of Marijuana Moment are likely already well-versed in the state of things, but to ensure that we’re all operating on the same page, here are some key data points to keep in mind ahead of Congress returning to session on July 17:

  • Marijuana prohibition has been in effect for over 80 years and was initiated under explicitly racist justifications.
  • The ‘state-legal’ cannabis industry has been around for less than three decades.
  • Over 25 million Americans have been put into handcuffs for marijuana-related offenses since marijuana was declared a scheduled substance under the Controlled Substances Act (all schedules involve criminal penalties for possession without a physician’s prescription).
  • Last year, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, struck an agreement known as “SAFE-Plus” to include the SAFE Banking Act (modified with CDFI, MDI, and worker protections) and the Harnessing Opportunities by Pursuing Expungements Act. The agreement was ready to pass before being blocked by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

In the last few months advocates and industry interests have feverously debated and lobbied on how and when to push Congress to move forward in regards to SAFE-Plus. Here are some of the things being pushed regarding the compromise agreement:

  • Industry interests are lobbying to expand the SAFE Banking Act to allow American cannabis companies to “uplist” their companies to be traded on stock markets.
  • Criminal justice reform-minded individuals have pushed to dramatically expand the HOPE Act to provide more resources than drafted to state and local governments to cover the cost of facilitating expungements of criminal records related to cannabis.
  • Equity advocates have identified a potentially devastating area of silence in the SAFE Banking Act which would allow banks to continue to discriminate against entrepreneurs with previous cannabis convictions due to existing “red flag” laws, which stands in contradiction to state programs like that in New York which aim to explicitly support impacted individuals to be owners in the emerging licensed cannabis industry.

The long-running joke in Washington, D.C. is that if everyone is unhappy about a compromise, then it is likely a pretty good compromise. 

As one of the 70-plus percent of Americans who support the legalization of cannabis, it can feel somewhat absurd that Congress is still talking about narrow reforms like a safe harbor to bankers to engage in business relationships with distributors of a Schedule 1 substance rather than focusing on addressing the fact that a majority of Americans live in a legal-cannabis state.

But that is D.C. for you, a place where issues like campaign finance reform addressing the billions spent on elections and background checks for firearms sales preventing those with a violent history from obtaining a gun can have 80-90 percent public support and still fail to even get more than a handful of supporters from the Republican caucus. 

In my view, when it comes to the SAFE-Plus agreement, it is time for advocates, industry, and other interested parties to unify and take the win at hand.

Having had literally thousands of conversations about the package over the last 18 months with congressional offices, there is only one of the proposed changes to the bill that I listed and believe could maintain bipartisan support to get to 60 in the Senate and 218 in the House. That is the proposed tweak to address red flags for prior cannabis convictions. If you are unaware of the effort to get this addressed, I highly suggest you review former Los Angeles, California cannabis regulator Cat Packer’s testimony, from when she participated in the recent Senate hearing on SAFE Banking. 

So I write this Fourth of July op-ed to implore you, the reader, to be willing to say yes to something that falls far short of what we deserve. 

The fight for cannabis freedom will continue and, given the divided nature of Congress, it will be long. Should the Senate fail to move this compromise package forward with haste ahead of the August recess, then we likely won’t even have the luxury of seriously arguing about how to achieve any congressional reform until after next year’s elections.

The pairing of a narrow criminal justice reform with industry reform is tempered, balanced and, most importantly, ready to become law.

Justin Strekal is the founding organizer of Better Organizing to Win Legalization and BOWL PAC. Prior to that, he served five years as the political director and lobbyist at NORML and has over a decade of campaign and legislative experience. (Disclosure: Strekal supports Marijuana Moment’s work with a monthly pledge on Patreon.)

Photo courtesy of Max Pixel.

Source link

Congressional Declaring Inaction Independence Marijuana OpEd
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Previous ArticleCannabis Litigation to Watch – Canna Law Blog™
Next Article Cannabis and the Second Amendment: A Word of Warning
admin
  • Website

Related Posts

Why Don’t More U.S. Investors Look Abroad for Marijuana Investment?

February 5, 2025

Colorado Could Become a Global Hub for Marijuana Genetics

January 23, 2025

Thoughts on the Terrible Pageant of Marijuana Rescheduling

January 18, 2025

Comments are closed.

Our Picks

California Governor Touts Results of Intoxicating Hemp Ban

May 9, 2025

California Governor Touts Results of Intoxicating Hemp Ban

May 9, 2025

Pennsylvania House Passes Cannabis Legalization Bill

May 8, 2025

Cannabis Company CEO Considering New Mexico Gubernatorial Bid

May 8, 2025
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Vimeo
Don't Miss
Business

California Governor Touts Results of Intoxicating Hemp Ban

By adminMay 9, 20250

The Office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced on Thursday that the state’s ban…

California Governor Touts Results of Intoxicating Hemp Ban

May 9, 2025

Pennsylvania House Passes Cannabis Legalization Bill

May 8, 2025

Cannabis Company CEO Considering New Mexico Gubernatorial Bid

May 8, 2025

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative news from Smoke Unlimited about Weed & CBD vaping.

From Our Partners
About Us
About Us

Get all the current news stories, latest trends and legislation regarding cannabidiol, products, usages and its benefits. So don’t miss out any buzz and stay tuned! We offer a minute to minute updates regarding Marijuana industry.

Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
Our Picks

California Governor Touts Results of Intoxicating Hemp Ban

May 9, 2025

California Governor Touts Results of Intoxicating Hemp Ban

May 9, 2025

Pennsylvania House Passes Cannabis Legalization Bill

May 8, 2025
Sponsors
Copyright © 2025. SmokeProfessional
  • Home
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.