Top IRS Official Says Marijuana Banking Reform Would Help Feds ‘Get Paid’

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) would like to get paid—and it’d help if the marijuana industry had access to banks like companies in other legal markets, an official with the federal department said. She also talked about unique issues related to federal tax deductions for cannabis businesses.

At an event hosted by UCLA’s Annual Tax Controversy Institute on Thursday, IRS’s Cassidy Collins talked about the “special type of collection challenge” that the agency faces when it comes to working with cannabis businesses while the product remains federally illegal.

While IRS isn’t taking a stand on federal marijuana policy, Collins said that the status quo leaves many cannabis businesses operating on a cash-only basis, creating complications for the agency, in part by making it harder for banks to “pay us.”

“The reason why [the marijuana industry is] cash intensive is twofold,” she said. “Number one, a lot of customers don’t want a paper trail showing that they’re buying marijuana, and number two, the hesitancy of banks to allow marijuana businesses to even bank with them.”

Of course, the reason why many financial institutions remain hesitant to take on cannabis companies as clients is because the plant is a strictly controlled substance under federal law.

“There’s been a number of legislative bills that have been introduced—and I am definitely not expressing any opinion personally or on behalf of the IRS about any pending or proposed legislation,” Collins, who is a senior counsel in the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, said. “But it is interesting to note that, if the law changed so that the marijuana businesses could have banks, that would make the IRS’s job to collect [taxes] a lot easier. As part of collection, we want the money. That’s our end goal there.”

A major part of what makes cannabis businesses unique is that they don’t qualify for traditional tax credits under an IRS code known as 280E. That policy “prohibits them from claiming deductions for business expenses because they’re technically being involved in drug trafficking,” Collins explained at the event, from which small excerpts of her comments were reported by Bloomberg.

There are some options available to lessen the burden on marijuana firms, however. At the end of the day, “IRS will work with marijuana companies because, again, we want to get paid,” Collins said.

One of the ways the agency works with marijuana business operators is to have them visit designated IRS “tax assistance centers” that accept cash payments in excess of $50,000. But the official warned businesses to “be prepared to be there for a little while” as the center checks—and double checks—the amount of cash being submitted.

“Revenue officers will assist the marijuana companies in paying us,” she said.

IRS officials could also help cannabis firms by having officials accompany them “to the bank in order to try to help the taxpayer secure a cashier’s payment to pay the IRS, as well as using money orders,” she said, adding that “our revenue officers are are wanting to work with the marijuana companies to help assist them to pay us.”

“When the revenue officers are there in person with the taxpayer, that could potentially help increase the likelihood that the bank will cooperate and help the taxpayer transition into a cashier’s check,” she continued. “And that has been a trend since this first became legal [at the state level], that more and more banks are allowing cannabis companies to bank with them.”

In a report published earlier this year, congressional researchers examined tax policies and restrictions for the marijuana industry—and how those could change if any number of federal reform bills are enacted.

IRS, for its part, said last month that it expects the cannabis market to continue to grow, and it offered some tips to businesses on staying compliant with taxes while the plant remains federally prohibited.

As it stands, banks and credit unions are operating under 2014 guidance from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) that lays out reporting requirements for those that choose to service the marijuana industry.

Leaders in both chambers of Congress are working on legalization bills to end federal marijuana prohibition. But stakeholders are hopeful that, in the interim, legislators will enact modest marijuana banking reform. Legislation to protect financial institutions from being penalized for working with cannabis businesses passed the House for the fifth time last month.

Rodney Hood, a board member of the National Credit Union Administration, wrote in a Marijuana Moment op-ed this month that legalization is an inevitability—and it makes the most sense for government agencies to get ahead of the policy change to resolve banking complications.

IRS separately hosted a forum in August dedicated to tax policy for marijuana businesses and cryptocurrency.

Earlier this year, IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig told Congress that the agency would “prefer” for state-legal marijuana businesses to be able to pay taxes electronically, as the current largely cash-based system under federal cannabis prohibition is onerous and presents risks to workers.

Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in 2019 that he’d like to see Congress approve legislation resolving the cannabis banking issue and he pointed to the fact that IRS has had to build “cash rooms” to deposit taxes from those businesses as an example of the problem.

IRS released updated guidance on tax policy for the marijuana industry last year, including instructions on how cannabis businesses that don’t have access to bank accounts can pay their tax bills using large amounts of cash.

The update appears to be responsive to a Treasury Department internal watchdog report that was released earlier in the year. The department’s inspector general for tax administration had criticized IRS for failing to adequately advise taxpayers in the marijuana industry about compliance with federal tax laws. And it directed the agency to “develop and publicize guidance specific to the marijuana industry.”

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IRS Official Offers Tax Advice To Marijuana Businesses And Says Feds Expect Industry To Keep Growing

IRS Official Offers Tax Advice To Marijuana Businesses And Says Feds Expect Industry To Keep GrowingPublished 1 day ago on September 28, 2021By Kyle Jaeger

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) says it expects the marijuana industry to continue to grow, and it’s offering some tips to cannabis businesses on staying compliant with taxes while the plant remains federally prohibited.

In a blog post on Monday, IRS’s De Lon Harris said that the “evolving and complex issue my organization has been focused on is the tax implications for the rapidly growing cannabis/marijuana industry.”

“The specific rules and regulations regarding how [marijuana] is taxed at the federal level provides the IRS an opportunity to promote voluntary compliance, not only through audits, but also through outreach and education,” he said, noting the rapid expansion of state-legal cannabis markets. “And while there are 14 states that still ban cannabis use, we expect both unlicensed and licensed marijuana businesses to grow.”

“It’s tricky from a business perspective, because even though states are legalizing marijuana and treating its sale as a legal business enterprise, it’s still considered a Schedule 1 controlled substance under federal law,” Harris wrote. “That means a cannabis/marijuana business has additional considerations under the law, creating unique challenges for members of the industry.”

The official, who serves as commissioner of IRS’s Small Business/Self Employed (SB/SE) Examination division, recognized that the status quo means that marijuana businesses are forced to operate on a largely cash-only basis, and federal prohibition also means that companies in the sector are precluded to taking key tax deductions.

However, while the tax statute known as 280E means the industry is ineligible for most federal tax deductions and credits, he noted that marijuana firms “can deduct their cost of goods sold, which is basically the cost of their inventory.”

“What isn’t deductible are the normal overhead expenses, such as advertising expenses, wages and salaries, and travel expenses, to name a few,” Harris said. “I understand this nuance can be a challenge for some business owners, and I also realize small businesses don’t always have a lot of resources available to them.

The official previewed a new “Cannabis/Marijuana Initiative” the agency is launching that will provide specific job training to tax officials to effectively carry out audits within the industry, ensure that there’s consistency in the IRS’s policy for cannabis, work with stakeholders to ensure tax compliance and help to identify non-compliant businesses.

“I’m very focused on the success of this strategy because it’s very important for business owners to understand that under our nation’s tax laws, and specifically Internal Revenue Code 61, all income is taxable, even if someone is running a business that’s considered illegal under federal law,” he said. “This is a truly groundbreaking effort for our agency.”

“Our strategy is not limited to pushing information out via our website in the hope that business owners will find it. I’ve made it a priority for my SB/SE organization to engage with the cannabis/marijuana industry through speaking events and other outreach. I have done three of these types of events over the last year, and what I have heard is a genuine desire to comply with the tax laws regarding the industry. Through this extended outreach, we hope to help small business owners and others fully understand the unique tax rules before there are any compliance issues.”

“Since the unique circumstances of the cannabis industry can make tax preparation challenging, I hope that new and experienced business owners take my advice in this post and use our resources to ensure they understand their tax obligations and avoid penalties associated with non-compliance,” the blog post concludes. “We’re always here to help with tools, information and guidance.”

This is yet another signal that while marijuana remains federally illegal, agencies are increasingly recognizing that a policy shift is happening in states and may well be on the horizon at the congressional level.

As leadership in the House and Senate work to advance legislation to deschedule cannabis, lawmakers have also pushed to enact clear, statutory protections for financial institutions that work with state-legal marijuana businesses. And that would be accomplished through House-passed standalone legislation, or an amendment that was attached to a defense spending bill this week.

In the interim, banks and credit unions are operating under 2014 guidance from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) that lays out reporting requirements for those that choose to service the marijuana industry. FinCEN released a report last week showing that there were 706 financial institutions that said they were actively serving cannabis clients as of the last quarter.

IRS separately hosted a forum last month dedicated to tax policy for marijuana businesses and cryptocurrency.

The seminar, which was presented by a representative of the National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP), examined issues such as allowable tax deductions while cannabis remains federally illegal and how different states approach taxing marijuana. It also covered issues related to paying taxes on earnings in Bitcoin and other forms of digital currency.

Earlier this year, IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig told Congress that the agency would “prefer” for state-legal marijuana businesses to be able to pay taxes electronically, as the current largely cash-based system under federal cannabis prohibition is onerous and presents risks to workers.

Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in 2019 that he’d like to see Congress approve legislation resolving the cannabis banking issue and he pointed to the fact that IRS has had to build “cash rooms” to deposit taxes from those businesses as an example of the problem.

IRS released updated guidance on tax policy for the marijuana industry last year, including instructions on how cannabis businesses that don’t have access to bank accounts can pay their tax bills using large amounts of cash.

The update appears to be responsive to a Treasury Department internal watchdog report that was released earlier in the year. The department’s inspector general for tax administration had criticized IRS for failing to adequately advise taxpayers in the marijuana industry about compliance with federal tax laws. And it directed the agency to “develop and publicize guidance specific to the marijuana industry.”

Harris’s predecessor at IRS SB/SE also participated in an informational webinar in December, offering candid insights on a variety of cannabis industry issues from the federal perspective.

Source

When the IRS says we can make money at this then legalization is just around the corner. The IRS knows there is a lot of money involved in cannabis. Money the IRS wants in their coffers. As do the politicians. That means keep the the pressure on. Do not let up or give up.

Amazon no longer discriminates against those using cannabis plus they back marijuana legalization

Amazon CEO Dave Clark said Tuesday that the company will no longer screen most of its employees for marijuana use, and it will back federal legalization legislation.

"We will no longer include marijuana in our comprehensive drug screening program for any positions not regulated by the Department of Transportation," Clark said in a blog post on Amazon's website. The change in policy comes as a response to "where state laws are moving across the U.S.," Clark said.

Amazon also pledged to throw its considerable weight behind marijuana legalization on a countrywide scale, saying the company would be "actively supporting The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2021 (MORE Act)—federal legislation that would legalize marijuana at the federal level, expunge criminal records, and invest in impacted communities."

The MORE Act, which was reintroduced to the House last month by Democrat Jerry Nadler from New York, would not only make recreational cannabis use legal in the entire United States, and work to release inmates incarcerated because of non-violent marijuana-related offenses, it would also attempt to address racial inequities in the way existing marijuana laws have been enforced.

According to a 2020 report from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Black people are three times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white people in the United States.

The bill includes a 5 percent tax on retail marijuana sales that would pay into the Opportunity Trust Fund that would pay for services like job training, re-entry, and health services, aimed at helping communities that have been impacted by generational unjust enforcement of the war on drugs.

"The whole intention and vision behind this bill is that it would repair past harms of drug prohibition," said Maritza Perez, national affairs director at the Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit working to reform drug laws. "We're hoping that another successful House vote would continue to pile on momentum," she told NBC News.

The MORE Act was passed by Congress once before in December 2020 but never received a vote in a Republican-controlled Senate. The bill will likely reach Senate later in 2021, and will be received by a Democratic majority this time. It will be backed by Leader Schumer of New York, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Ron Wyden of Oregon. All three of these Democratic senators' states have approved recreational cannabis.

In 2020 recreational marijuana sales totaled about $20 billion, and are expected to reach more than twice that, according to research cited in the bill.

"We hope that other employers will join us, and that policymakers will act swiftly to pass this law," Clark said in the Amazon blog post.

It is not clear if the bill will have sufficient backing to pass the Senate.

Newsweek reached out to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws for comment.

Amazon Won't Screen Employees for Marijuana Use, Will Back Federal Legalization (newsweek.com)

This is fantastic. A major corporation getting behind marijuana legalization. It's about time. It's about time someone in corporate America took notice and realized the drug war was a complete fiasco.

This is fantastic

Federal prosecutors cannot punish two Northern California marijuana growers for violating U.S. drug laws because Congress has protected pot suppliers who follow the state’s medical marijuana law, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

In a 2-1 ruling, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld a federal judge’s decision that two men whose property in Humboldt County was raided by federal drug agents in 2012 had complied with California’s medical marijuana law and could not be sentenced as drug dealers under federal law.

Both men had pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2014, a year before Congress barred the Justice Department from spending money to interfere with a state’s medical marijuana law. California voters approved the nation’s first such law in 1996, and 20 years later approved another law legalizing possession, use and cultivation for personal use of marijuana by adults over 21.

The appeals court had ruled in a separate case in 2016 that the budget restriction prohibited federal prosecution of growers who could prove they were following the state’s medical marijuana law. A year later, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg cited that ruling to bar federal sentencing of the two marijuana growers, the first such decision in the nation. Their lawyer, Ronald Richards, said Friday’s decision was the first by a U.S. appeals court to prohibit federal marijuana prosecution under the congressional restrictions.

“People are still going to prison for marijuana offenses, notwithstanding the fact that most states have medical marijuana laws and many states have legalized marijuana,” Richards said. “This ruling paves the way for others to challenge these prosecutions and not have the decision upset by an appellate court reweighing the evidence.”

He said his clients, Anthony Pisarski and Sonny Moore, would ask Seeborg to withdraw their guilty pleas.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Federal policy on the issue has varied under both the Obama and the Trump administrations. Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced in January 2018 that his office would resume federal marijuana prosecutions nationwide regardless of state laws, but his successor, William Barr, promised at his Senate confirmation hearing in January 2019 that he would not prosecute growers who complied with state marijuana laws.

Pisarski and Moore were arrested in July 2012 by officers who said they found 327 marijuana plants, along with two loaded guns and $416,000 in cash on their property in a remote area of central Humboldt County. Searches over the next year uncovered more firearms, cash, and gold and silver bars.

The two men presented evidence that they grew the marijuana for nearby nonprofit collectives, which reimbursed them for their costs, and that they were abiding by the state law’s ban on growing marijuana for profit. Federal prosecutors argued that the cash, gold and silver were evidence of a profit-making business, but Seeborg disagreed, noting that such transactions were often made in cash because banks refused to serve marijuana businesses.

Upholding his ruling, the appeals court said prosecutors had not presented any evidence of past or future marijuana sales by the growers, other than the legal transactions with the collectives.

“The presence of weapons and excessive amounts of cash on the Humboldt property was equally consistent with the operation of a rural, cash-intensive enterprise as it was with an unlawful marijuana operation,” said Judge M. Margaret McKeown in the majority opinion. She was joined by Judge Eugene Siler of the federal appeals court in Cincinnati, temporarily assigned to the Ninth Circuit.

Dissenting Judge J. Clifford Wallace said the cash, guns and ammunition were evidence of a for-profit operation that would have violated California law.

Source

This is awesome. This is a huge win. Thank you 9th Circuit Court Of Appeals for seeing reason. They don't often do that.

Tell Congress Not To Allow Trump To Roll Back Medical Marijuana Protections

By clicking here

Just like herpes

Jeff Sessions has stated he is going to running for Senator. Hoping to get his old job back. As far as marijuana legalization goes that is very bad news. Sessions is an old style drug warrior. If he had it his way those that ran dispensaries would be executed along with the consumers. If he regains his Senate seat that would be disastrous . If you have to vote Democrat on this one only go for it. A freshman Democrat is less harmful than Sessions who is beloved in the GOP and has a lot of pull.

China Warns Citizens Living In Canada Against Consuming Legal Cannabis

The Chinese government has issued a warning to its citizens living in Canada after the country moved into the second phase of cannabis legalization last Thursday. A statement released by the Chinese consulate in Calgary stopped short of barring Chinese citizens from buying or consuming the drug, but did counsel them to “fully understand the harmfulness of cannabis products.”

They are very aware of the brutality of the Chinese government. Especially the courageous Hong Kong protesters whom I wish the best of luck.

China has seen a wave of Reefer Madness-like anti-cannabis hysteria arise, heightened by fears over the spillover effects of marijuana regulation in parts of the US and Canada.

Ever hear of Maoism? That is some frightening shit. It was so bad that people ate their dead relatives instead of burying them. Cannibalism. That is some psycho shit. I'll take cannabisism over cannibalism any day.

The country has not limited its outrage to foreign nations. A Communist Party-led campaign against the mafia has resulted in the shuttering of Shanghai nightlife venues. In Beijing, foreign bar and restaurant owners report having been surprised with urine tests to prove that they are free of cannabis and other drugs.

It must be quite a unique experience urinating at gunpoint.

The Chinese rejection of marijuana has even reached the ears of the White House. In June, an official from the China National Narcotics Control Commission told reporters that cannabis legalization in the US and Canada has led to a 25 percent spike in marijuana use in China. In that instance, President Donald Trump countered by saying China is responsible for “flooding” the United States with illegal fentanyl.

Hey Chicoms. Did you really think you were going to punk my country,the United States Of America? Guess again, bitches. Go Protesters.

Though Canada legalized marijuana last October, the country has been slowly phasing in the regulation of particular cannabis products. Last week, on the anniversary of that initial legalization legislation, new regulations for certain cannabis derivatives took effect, including those related to edibles, beverages, vapes, dabs, and topical products.

I don't want to sound like someone's dad but be careful with vapes.

Cannabis Consumers Face Harsh Penalties

Anybody that the Chicoms don't like is in deep shit if they are in China's jurisdiction. Captured protesters are not going to fare much better.

This week China cautioned its citizens against THC products in particular and bringing any cannabis back to the country in general. Earlier this summer, a Canadian man was arrested on drug charges in Yantai, the most recent in a string of people from the country who have found themselves in trouble in China for similar offenses.

Chinese citizens have good reason to heed their government when it comes to sending or bringing cannabis back home. The death penalty is the maximum sentence that can be handed down for trafficking illegal substances in China, and the country has not proven reluctant to hand down that harshest punishment of all. In fact, a Canadian citizen is currently facing execution after being convicted of conspiracy to smuggle 489 pounds of meth into the country.

The Chicoms have no problem executing disidents as well.Look at Tiananmen Square.

Should the government make good on that sentence (which is being appealed), it wouldn’t be the first time China executes a foreigner for trafficking illegal drugs. In 2014, the government put a Japanese man to death, as well as a Filipina courier whose family asked that her name stay out of the press in 2013, and Akmal Shaikh from Great Britain in 2009. Last year, a US college student was released after serving eight months in a Chinese prison on cannabis trafficking charges that turned out to be false.

Smart move,Chicoms. As long as that young American comes home in good health we can be reasonable. You don't want to fuck with Trump or the bald eagle will get you.

China’s no tolerance views on marijuana

China has no tolerance views on everything.

are surprising when regarded in the historical context. Earlier this year, researchers discovered ten ritual braziers in a western China tomb which constitute the earliest known evidence of cannabis being smoked. The vessels are thought to date from at least 2,500 years ago.

Source

Flower marijuana is the best.

We are given a plant. A very beneficial plant that is soothing, healing and beneficial to us. It is perfect the way it is. Just grow it, dry it, roll it up and fire it up. Not terribly complicated as far as plans go nor is it burdensome. It is perfect the way it is but is that good enough for us? No, we have to fuck with it and do this here and do that there until we have some concoction that may or may not be fatal. As far as vaping goes there are fatalities. The irony is that vaping was sold to the public as a safer alternative to smoking. With marijuana that is not the case. Vaping THC, which is man-made, has caused people to die while natural flower marijuana continues to be the safest substance on the planet. We do this every time all the time. When we do it kicks our ass. The edibles are pretty safe along with the flower buds so let's stay in that range. When it comes to vaping just say no.

Congress Schedules Hearing To Discuss Ending Marijuana Prohibition

A major congressional subcommittee will hold a hearing on marijuana policy next week, Marijuana Moment has learned.

Though few details about the meeting are currently available, the House Judiciary Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee are expected to discuss various legislative proposals to allow states to set their own cannabis policies without fear of federal intervention.

Several sources who did not wish to be identified shared with Marijuana Moment the names of witnesses expected to soon receive formal invitations to testify before the panel on Wednesday, July 10. Given the backgrounds of these individuals, it seems apparent that committee members will be discussing not whether the U.S. should end federal cannabis prohibition, but will focus primarily on how to do it.

Witnesses are anticipated to include Malik Burnett, a physician at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who previously served as the Washington, D.C. policy manager at the Drug Policy Alliance’s Office of National Affairs, where he helped lead a successful ballot initiative campaign to legalize cannabis in the nation’s capital in 2014.

Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who announced in January that her office would no longer prosecute cannabis possession cases and would work to clear the records of certain individuals with prior marijuana convictions, is also being invited to testify.

David Nathan, a physician and board president of the pro-legalization group Doctors for Cannabis Regulation (DFCR), will also appear before the committee.

He told Marijuana Moment that he looks “forward to discussing the evidence-based health effects of cannabis, the failure of prohibition, the inadequacy of decriminalization, and the public health and social justice benefits of effective regulation.”

“DFCR physicians have successfully fought for legalization in states around the country,” Nathan said. “Now DFCR is proud to advocate for the broad majority of Americans—both Republicans and Democrats—who want our government to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and finally end the specter of federal interference with state cannabis laws.”

Finally, Neal Levine, CEO of Cannabis Trade Federation, will be the minority witness—which is noteworthy in and of itself, as Levine advocates for legalization, while one might expect the minority Republican party to invite someone who shares an opposing perspective on ending prohibition.

“I cannot comment on what has not been announced publicly by the committee, but I would welcome the opportunity to share the perspective of our members,” Levine, who previously served as a staffer for the Marijuana Policy Project, told Marijuana Moment. “We are especially well positioned to discuss the challenges arising from the inconsistency between state and federal cannabis laws.”

(Full disclosure: the Cannabis Trade Federation and its affiliate CTF Action have sponsored Marijuana Moment.)

After this story was initially published, the subcommittee posted an official notice for the hearing. It is titled “Marijuana Laws in America: Racial Justice and the Need for Reform” and will begin at 10:00 AM ET.

While lawmakers aren’t expected to vote on any particular bill at the hearing, it will nonetheless be one of the most significant congressional developments on marijuana reform to date.

The Judiciary Committee, under which this subcommittee falls, wields particular influence in advancing broad changes to federal drug laws, and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) designated it as the panel to bring about the end of cannabis prohibition in a blueprint to legalization in the 116th Congress.

“For the first time in recent memory, there will be a candid conversation in the Judiciary Committee about the failures of marijuana prohibition in the United States and how people have been impacted,” Justin Strekal, political director of NORML, told Marijuana Moment. “We look forward to working with the subcommittee to best inform the conversation and the public at large.”

Legislation that could be marked up by the panel in the future includes the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act, the Marijuana Justice Act, the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act and the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, is also said to be working on his own bill to end federal marijuana prohibition, but no details have yet been announced.

Notably, every single Democratic member of the full Judiciary Committee, including the chairman, voted in favor of amendment protecting cannabis programs in all states, U.S. territories and Washington, D.C. from Justice Department intervention last month. Six Republican members of the panel joined them in support of the measure, which was attached to spending legislation that has since cleared the House. The bipartisan nature of that vote indicates that further reform legislation stands a strong chance of passing in the committee.

Besides Blumenauer’s House-passed amendment protecting cannabis programs, this Congress has also seen several other hearings on cannabis issues. The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee discussed four pieces of legislation concerning veterans and marijuana last month, and the House Small Businesses Committee also convened to address opportunities and barriers for small cannabis businesses under the federal framework of prohibition.

In March, a bipartisan bill that would provide protections for banks that service cannabis businesses cleared the House Financial Services Committee following a hearing on the issue, and a full floor vote on that legislation could be coming soon.

Unlike the new Judiciary hearing, the minority witnesses at the Financial Services and Small Business hearings—representatives of the prohibitionist group Smart Approaches to Marijuana and the Heritage Foundation, respectively—opposed legalization.

Source

Congress Votes To Block Feds From Enforcing Marijuana Laws In Legal States

The House of Representatives approved a far-reaching measure on Thursday to prevent the Department of Justice from interfering with state marijuana laws, including those allowing recreational use, cultivation and sales.

The amendment, which also shields cannabis laws in Washington, D.C. and U.S. territories, is now attached to a large-scale appropriations bill to fund parts of the federal government for Fiscal Year 2020.

The inclusion of adult-use programs represents a significant expansion of an existing policy that protects only local medical cannabis laws from federal intervention which was first enacted in 2014 and has since been extended through annual spending bills.

The broader rider was approved in a floor vote of 267 to 165, a tally that is considered by legalization supporters to be an indication of how much support there is in Congress for more comprehensive and permanent changes to federal marijuana policies.

“This is the most significant vote on marijuana reform policy that the House of Representatives has ever taken,” said NORML Political Director Justin Strekal. “Today’s action by Congress highlights the growing power of the marijuana law reform movement and the increasing awareness by political leaders that the policy of prohibition and criminalization has failed.”

Cannabis Trade Federation CEO Neal Levine agreed with the importance of the legislative victory.

“The historic nature of this vote cannot be overstated," he said. "For the first time, a chamber of Congress has declared that the federal government should defer to state cannabis laws."

Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, called the vote "without a doubt the biggest victory for federal cannabis policy reform to date, and a hopeful sign that the harmful policies of marijuana prohibition will soon be a relic of the past."

The measure, sponsored by Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Tom McClintock (R-CA), would bar the Department of Justice from spending money to prevent states and territories from "implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of marijuana."

In 2015, a nearly identical measure came just nine flipped votes short of passage on the House floor. Since then, the number of states with full legalization laws has more than doubled, meaning that far more lawmakers now represent constituents who stand to benefit from its protections.

“The end of marijuana prohibition has never been closer. When Drug Policy Alliance and a small band of allies first worked on this amendment in 2015, we were told that we didn’t stand a chance," DPA Director of National Affairs Michael Collins said. "But we convinced members this was the right thing to do, and four years on, victory is sweet."

"Now is the time for Democrats to pivot to passing legislation that will end prohibition through a racial justice lens, making sure that the communities most impacted by our racist marijuana laws have a stake in the future of legalization," he said. "To do anything less would be to repeat an injustice.”

On Wednesday, the House approved a similar amendment protecting the marijuana laws of Indian tribes by a voice vote, and no member requested a roll call vote, so that language is also now attached to the spending bill.

“We’re watching the growth of this industry, a multibillion-dollar industry. We’re watching state after state move forward,” Blumenauer said in a floor debate on the state protection amendment on Wednesday evening. “Every one of us on the floor of the House who are here now represent areas that have taken action. We have had embedded in our legislation protections for medical marijuana. And this would simply extend that same protection to prevent the Department of Justice interfering with adult use. I strongly, strongly urge that we build on the legacy that we’ve had in the past, that we move this forward to allow the federal government to start catching up to where the rest of the states are.”


Eleanor Holmes Norton
✔
@EleanorNorton
Tonight, my amendment with @repblumenauer to prohibit the DOJ from using its funds to prevent jurisdictions from implementing their own medical and recreational marijuana laws passed in the House. Thank you to @repblumenauer for working with me to include D.C.

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In a letter circulated to colleagues prior to the vote, McClintock wrote that "the issue at hand is whether the federal government has the constitutional authority to dictate policy to states on an issue which occurs strictly within their own borders."

"I do not believe the federal government has that authority, but even if it did, states should determine their own criminal justice policies," he wrote. "This is how our constitutional system was designed to function."

Don Murphy, director of federal policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, said that Blumenauer and McClintock "deserve credit for their early leadership on marijuana policy reform, which dates back to the days when it was just good policy, not good politics too."

The fate of the cannabis measures in the Senate is unknown for now. Historically that chamber's Appropriations Committee has been relatively open to attaching marijuana riders to spending bills, and has consistently approved the medical cannabis protections. But the body's Republican leadership may be reluctant to take the further step of also tying the Justice Department's hands when it comes to enforcing federal prohibition against licensed businesses and consumers in states that allow recreational marijuana use and sales.


Dina Titus
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@repdinatitus
The House just made history! I’m so proud to have voted with my colleagues to puff, puff, pass an amendment to prevent the @DOJ from interfering with state cannabis programs. This progress is outstanding news for Nevada and so many states across the country.

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House Democratic leadership urged their conference to support the measure in a whip email on Thursday, and only eight members of the party voted against it.

While the majority of Republicans voted against the rider, 41 GOP members supported it.

The passage of the state protection amendment comes despite congressional offices receiving an 11th-hour email saying Greenwich Biosciences, maker of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved CBD-based medication Epidiolex, wanted lawmakers to defeat it.

The message to congressional staff claimed that the measure is "overly broad and could be interpreted as impacting the ability of the DOJ to assist the FDA with any enforcement action that may need to be taken to ensure the public safety."

But Collins, of DPA, pointed out that if that were true, it would also apply to the current medical cannabis rider that's been part of federal law for nearly five years.

It "doesn’t pass the laugh test,” he said. "Who are Dems going to side with: Big Pharma or people trying to end the drug war?”

A company media representative didn't respond to a phone message seeking comment.

Earlier on Thursday, the House approved an amendment from Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA) that directs the Food and Drug Administration to establish a process for regulating CBD in foods and dietary supplements.

Another measure passed in a voice vote, from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), shifts $5 million away from the Drug Enforcement Administration toward an opioid treatment program.

An additional Ocasio-Cortez amendment aimed at removing barriers to research on psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin and MDMA was soundly defeated on the House floor last week.

The House is set to consider another amendment on the spending legislation in the coming days that would allow military veterans to receive medical marijuana recommendations from Department of Veterans Affairs doctors.

A separate spending bill moving through the House already contains language to protect banks from being punished for working with state-legal cannabis businesses and removes a longstanding rider that has prevented Washington, D.C. from spending its own local tax dollars to legalize and regulate marijuana sales.

Meanwhile, standalone cannabis legislation is also advancing.

A comprehensive marijuana banking bill was cleared by the Financial Services Committee in March and is expected to receive a floor vote next month. The Veterans' Affairs Committee held a hearing on four separate pieces of legislation concerning cannabis and military veterans on Thursday. And the Small Business Committee hosted a Wednesday hearing on issues facing cannabis firms, with the panel's chairwoman announcing she would soon file a bill on the issue.
Source

This is huge. Never before in history has this ever happened before. We've come a long way. Now we lobby the Senate. If it passes the Senate we lobby Trump for his signature thus making these reforms the laws of the land.

Meet the new boss same as the old boss

A powerful House Committee cleared a drug policy reform amendment for consideration on the House floor on Monday. But at the same time, it blocked a separate marijuana reform proposal from advancing.

The measure moving to a full House vote, introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), would eliminate a long-standing rider on a spending bill that prohibits federal agencies from using funds for “any activity that promotes the legalization of any drug or other substance in Schedule I” of the Controlled Substances Act.

The congresswoman argued in a summary of her proposal that the current provision impedes valuable research into substances that have therapeutic potentials such as psilocybin and MDMA. Cannabis is also listed among those substances as a Schedule I drug.

The amendment blocked from advancing to the floor, filed by Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA), would have prevented the Department of Education from denying or limiting “any funding or assistance to institutions of higher education” that allow the use or possession of medical cannabis on campus in states where it is legal.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), chair of the House Rules Committee, said last year that he was “not going to block marijuana amendments like my predecessor has done.”

“I’m not going to block marijuana amendments,” he said last year shortly after Democrats took back control of the House in the midterm elections. “People ought to bring them to the floor, they should be debated and people ought to vote the way they feel appropriate.”

The rider that Ocasio-Cortez’s amendment would remove has been attached to spending legislation for the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education since at least 1996.

The congresswoman’s effort comes at an especially relevant time, as jurisdictions across the U.S. are pursuing psilocybin reform with a focus on the fungi’s medical potential. Voters in Denver approved a local measure to decriminalize the substance in May, and last week the Oakland City Council unanimously passed a similar measure that also applies to other psychedelics including ayahuasca, mescaline and ibogaine.

Just before the Rules Committee meeting on Monday, Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) signed on as cosponsors of the amendment.


Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
✔
@AOC
We now have *bipartisan support* for our amendment allowing expanded research into psychedelics.

This is important, as several studies have shown promise in treatment-resistant PTSD, severe depression, & more.

The War on Drugs has caused so much harm. It’s time to reverse it.

Tom Angell 🌳📰
✔
@tomangell
NEW: Reps. @mattgaetz and @RoKhanna have just been added as cosponsors of @AOC’s amendment to expand research on psilocybin, MDMA and other psychedelic drugs.

The Rules Committee decides tonight whether this can go to the House floor...

BACKGROUND:https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomangell/2019/06/08/aoc-pushes-to-make-it-easier-to-study-shrooms-and-other-psychedelic-drugs/ …

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Correa’s amendment on medical marijuana at colleges and universities would have helped undercut a major reason some administrators say they won’t allow even approved patients to bring cannabis on campus: the threatened loss of federal funds over a failure to bar federally illegal drug use and possession.

“It is frustrating that patients who are seeking to improve their position in life by attending college would be forced to choose between their education and their medication,” University of Utah NORML Director Pedro Padilla told Marijuana Moment.

While the Democratic-controlled House has produced several wide-ranging marijuana bills this congressional session, including a cannabis banking bill expected to hit the floor in the coming weeks, it’s apparent that there’s strong interest in advancing reform through the appropriations process.

House Appropriations Committee reports released so far this year call for the expansion of research into medical cannabis, funding the implementation of hemp regulations, tackling the challenges associated with impaired driving, creating an alternative regulatory framework for CBD and ensuring that military veterans don’t lose their benefits due to their involvement in state-legal cannabis markets.

A committee report published on Monday also implored the federal government to reevaluate its employment polices as it pertains to workers who use cannabis in accordance with state law.

McGovern did not say during Monday’s Rules Committee meeting why he chose to block the medical marijuana amendment from advancing despite his previous pledges to allow such proposals to advance for consideration by the full House.

He had joined marijuana policy reform advocates in criticizing his predecessor, then-Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), for consistently impeding cannabis proposals from advancing.

The overall spending bill and amendments made in order will be debated on the floor this week.

This is bullshit. We voted these people into office to represent us not undermine us. I am really pissed off over this one. If you are too and you live in his district you can contact him and ask why he pulled this stunt.

Senator Cory Gardner is making marijuana reform a reality

Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) said on Wednesday that he has “pretty good confidence” that Congress will pass far-reaching marijuana reforms this year, citing conversations he’s had with key committee chairs and President Donald Trump.

Gardner, who is the lead GOP sponsor of separate bills to let cannabis businesses access banking services and to protect states that have legalized from federal interference, said bipartisan support for his legislation “sends a strong signal that it’s time to pull the federal government’s head out of the sand on marijuana and actually address” the issue.

“It’s a sign that it’s no longer acceptable for the status quo [to continue] and we need to actually fix this conflict in federal and state law,” he said.

The senator revealed that he’s had “a number of good conversations” with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, as well as “some of the others in key committees like the Banking Committee.”

“I actually have some pretty good confidence that we can move forward on a solution this year,” Gardner told Yahoo Finance. “I think the consistent drumbeat of businesses and organizations and individuals going in to share their story with Chairman Graham and others has really made a key difference in terms of how we’re going to pass legislation to actually fix this conflict.”

Yahoo Finance
✔
@YahooFinance
Highlight: "It’s time to pull Congress's head out of the sand, the federal government’s head out of the sand on marijuana…" says @SenCoryGardner on bipartisan lawmakers teaming up to reform marijuana laws. https://finance.yahoo.com/

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11:04 AM - Jun 5, 2019

Of course, cannabis reform legislation would also have to be signed by Trump, who Gardner said he considers an ally on the issue.

“I think the president would look at it as a commonsense approach that helps him out as well,” he said in response to a question about whether passing the bill he is co-leading with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) could aid her presidential campaign as she seeks to oust the incumbent occupant of the Oval Office. “He’s been supportive of this approach from the get-go. The conversations I have had with him over the past year-plus have been very productive.”

“I think that this is something he understands needs to be done because of the number of states—47 states have now moved forward—and to use his term, we’re not going to go backwards on this. Let’s fix the problem,” he added.

While Trump has not been particularly vocal about the issue since being elected, he did say last year that he “really” supports legislation to let states set their own marijuana policies without federal intervention when asked by a reporter.

Meanwhile, a number of political observers have pointed out that bringing home a federal cannabis win of some kind or another to Colorado could go a long way toward aiding Gardner’s own bid to be reelected next year.

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Key bipartisan lawmakers say they are confident Congress will move on legislation designed to free cannabis businesses from the risk of breaking federal laws.

“I actually have some pretty good confidence that we can move forward on a solution this year,” Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) told Yahoo Finance about the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States Act (“STATES Act”), a bill he co-sponsored with Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and one of several bills introduced in Congress to address concerns that plant-touching transactions could run afoul of the Controlled Substances Act and U.S. banking regulations.

If passed, the STATES Act would prevent federal authorities from punishing state-compliant cannabis businesses that would otherwise face criminal prosecution for possessing and distributing marijuana, which remains designated as a schedule 1 narcotic.

“I think the consistent drumbeat of businesses and organizations and individuals going in to share their story with Chairman [Lindsey] Graham, and others, has really made a key difference in terms of how we’re going to actually pass legislation to fix this conflict,” Gardner said.

‘An invitation to money laundering’

A lead Republican sponsor for another bipartisan, and a more narrowly-tailored bill that would protect banks from cannabis-related penalties, the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (“SAFE Act”), Gardner reintroduced the measure in the Senate in April with Democratic co-sponsor Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

“This broader bill, I support it,” Merkley told Yahoo Finance. “Sen. Cory Gardner from Colorado has done a good job leading that effort. But sometimes the broader the bill gets, the less support it has. So we’re trying to find both the policy path and the political path forward.”

Persuading lawmakers to vote yes on a policy that would undo decades of drug regulation takes time, Merkley said. It’s why he believes the SAFE Act may be getting more traction.

“It’s caught in the evolution of thinking about cannabis,” Merkley said. “We now have more than half of our states ... that really understand that this cash economy makes no sense. It means that you have hundreds of thousands of dollars, millions of dollars moving around in duffel bags, in backpacks. It’s an invitation to money laundering, to organized crime to petty theft, to not even paying your taxes accurately.”

Merkley said the Senate version of the SAFE Act had gained 31 sponsors and was gradually building steam. Its companion bill in the House passed out of committee in March. “We’re expecting positive action on the floor,” Merkley said.

Questions remain about whether hemp, a form of cannabis with non-psychoactive levels of THC, needs to be explicitly covered in the various bills, despite its legalization under the 2018 Farm Bill. Hemp contains another phytocannabinoid, CBD, suspected to have therapeutic benefits.

“We’re pushing the FDA to act quickly because that’s really the hang-up now,” Merkley said. “Some states are a little nervous — what is this CBD oil? And does have something to do with marijuana? And can we intercept it? And the answer is no. This is now a full, agricultural product but it needs to have the FDA put out regulations that pertain to labeling and shipping, just to give everyone, to get the message, if you will, that this is now a legal, agricultural commodity.”

Representatives Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), Denny Heck (D-WA), Steve Stivers (R-OH) and Warren Davidson (R-OH) introduced the House version of the SAFE Act. On Wednesday, the House Financial Services Committee issued a report on the legislation. The bill was discharged by the House Judiciary Committee, and placed on the Union Calendar, indicating it may come to a floor vote sooner than expected.

Source

You can make a difference too by petitioning the government to pass and implement these reforms right away. To do so click on the take action banner.

Way to go,AOC

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) pressed the head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) about policies that cause public housing residents and their families to be evicted for committing low-level offenses such as marijuana possession on Tuesday.

During a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee, the congresswoman first quoted HUD Secretary Ben Carson from a 2017 speech where he acknowledged that the war on drugs has disproportionately impacted minority communities.

“Do you acknowledge that the war on drugs disproportionately impacted black communities and communities of color despite marijuana and other drug use levels being comparable to white communities?” she asked the secretary for the record.

“Traditionally that has been the case,” Carson replied.



CSPAN
✔
@cspan
.@RepAOC @AOC asks about One Strike Rule and No-Fault Policy and if Secretary Carson would support moving the policies over to a more holistic/case-by-case review.

@SecretaryCasron: "I'm always in favor of more flexibility."

5,551
9:45 AM - May 21, 2019
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Ocasio-Cortez went on to say that she was concerned that “the negative impact of the war on drugs has not been limited to incarceration” and that “we had legislative rippling effect that also seems to have been codified in our housing system”

She pointed to two specific HUD policies: the “one strike” rule, which allows property managers to evict people living in federally assisted housing if they engage in illicit drug use or other crimes, and the “no fault” rule, which stipulates that public housing residents can be evicted due to illicit drug use by other members of their household or guests—even if the resident was unaware of the activity.

Carson said that property owners in individual jurisdictions have discretion when it comes to enforcing the policy, but he conceded that these rules are in effect under federal law.

“So a person could be stop and frisked and be found in possession of a small amount of marijuana and then be evicted or have their entire family evicted from public housing?” Ocasio-Cortez asked.

“That is a possibility,” Carson said.

Fair Chance at Housing Act

The congresswoman then asked if Carson was aware of the “no fault” rule, to which he replied that the “use of such activity is extremely limited, if ever used.” Ocasio-Cortez responded by stating that the policies “are still codified in federal law” and asked whether the official supports “reversing some of these provisions” such as the “no fault” rule.

Carson said he was willing to talk about individual cases, and the congresswoman followed up by noting that there’s a lack of holistic review for these cases. Given Carson’s interest in hearing details about individual cases, she wondered if he’d “support being able to move some of these policies to a more holistic review.”

“Should that case-by-case consideration be codified in federal law instead of having blanket, one-strike or no fault policies?” she asked.

“I’m always in favor of more flexibility,” he said, signaling that he’d be open to reforming some of the anti-drug policies in effect federally at HUD.

Should Carson decline to take action, legislation introduced by Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) in April would protect public housing residents who use marijuana in compliance with state law from being evicted.

Ocasio-Cortez herself has filed a bill that would prevent public housing applicants from being denied due to a low-level drug conviction that resulted in a sentence of under ten years and prohibit drug testing of applicants “as a condition of such housing assistance,” among other reforms.

Source

AOC is right in that the evictions she is describing are codified into federal law. That has to change. If not we are subject to political winds and winds change course. If that were to happen that would be very devastating. Contrary to what people think most housing is for law abiding people. Some may be disabled while others are employed. Yes,there are housing for those out of prison unfortunately housing for ex-cons and/or illegal aliens are the ones the media loves to focus on.

Joe Biden Applauds Anti-Marijuana Speech At Opioid Forum

As former Vice President Joe Biden mulls a 2020 presidential run, marijuana reform advocates are following closely to see if the long-running drug warrior is going to change his tune. But at a forum on the opioid epidemic on Thursday, that didn’t seem to be the case.

When the mayor of Philadelphia asked the panel at the University of Pennsylvania event about whether cannabis can be used as an alternative to opioids, psychobiology professor Bertha Madras claimed that patients who consume marijuana experience the same levels of pain and don’t decrease their opioid use, and she also characterized legislative efforts to allow patients with opioid use disorder to access medical marijuana as “disrespectful”—a rant that Biden enthusiastically applauded.

“At this point there are two conclusions. Number one, the data does not show that cannabis is a substitute, because if you actually do longitudinal studies on an individual basis, you find that people are suffering as much pain if they’re taking marijuana, and their opioid use is not decreasing in most cases,” Madras, who served as the deputy director of demand reduction for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, argued. “In fact, they’re getting more and more in trouble, in terms of developing opioid use disorder and they’re misusing opioids.”

“Every single disease that is treated in this country—like diabetes, like infections, like cancer—is evidence-based and undergoes randomized controlled clinical trials,” she continued. “And to say that this is by legislative support or by fiat from a governor’s office, that this is how you can treat opioid use disorder without the clinical trials, without longitudinal studies, to me is purely disrespectful of patients.”

There are numerous studies that raise questions about the doctor’s broad dismissal of the notion that cannabis can substitute opioids, but Biden seemed satisfied. He applauded the doctor and later seemed to tell the guest next to him that “she’s right.”

The tacit endorsement of the panelist’s anti-cannabis speech appears to signal that Biden—who as a senator championed the enactment of harsh, punitive drug laws—remains opposed, or at least skeptical about, changing marijuana policies. That will put him at odds with every other major Democratic candidate currently in the race—all of whom have backed legalization for both medical and adult use.

Also at the forum, Biden commented on the addictiveness of opioid-based painkillers and said that “a little pain is not bad,” a remark that could be interpreted as insulting to pain patients, who have increasingly faced stigmatization and scrutiny as they’ve sought relief amidst the opioid crisis.


Matt Viser
✔
@mviser
Joe Biden, asked what one thing he wishes people knew, says people should recognize how addictive pain killers are. "A little pain is not bad," he says.

It’s unclear how seriously Biden is weighing a 2020 run at this stage, with many speaking out about his history of touching women in ways that made them feel uncomfortable. But if he does take the plunge, drug policy will undoubtedly be a sticking point for many voters.

The current field of Democratic candidates is already competing to go beyond simply supporting legalization and either musing broader decriminalization of other drugs or, in the case of Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), insisting that support for ending prohibition is contingent on the inclusion of social equity provisions to repair the damages of the war on drugs, which has been carried out in a racially disproportionate manner.

As far as Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) is concerned, the U.S. will never have another “anti-cannabis’ president. Asked specifically about Biden’s prospects, the congressman told Marijuana Moment in a recent interview that nobody “is going to survive the nominating process who doesn’t have a reasonable position on cannabis.”

“They will not be nominated. I say that unequivocally,” Blumenauer said.

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The politicization of cannabis legalization

The pro-legalization of cannabis nationwide is gathering momentum.That is great. What is not-so-great is the left wing politics that are permeating the movement. Specifically in this case racism. Race is a bad indicator to go on because not every black or brown person is cited for marijuana possession. Not only that but Caucasians,specifically men who are cited,will go uncounted due to race and especially gender. The best way the powers that be can make this up is to expunge convictions and overturn ridiculous judgements (being barred from the marijuana industry by judges due to prohibition and other ridiculous conditions.) Regardless of race and/or gender. Also allow market forces dictate the supply and demand when it comes to cannabis,ease up on taxing it to death.

FDA is seeking the public's input on marijuana rescheduling

In the last few days, nearly 700 people have submitted comments to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) supporting the rescheduling of marijuana.

The FDA opened the public comment period on Friday to gather input ahead of a United Nations meeting on global drug policy, where the U.S. representative will have the opportunity to cast a vote on World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations to reschedule cannabis, THC and CBD under international drug treaties.

So far, the federal agency has been flooded with comments that overwhelmingly endorse a cannabis reclassification. Support for the policy change has been nearly unanimous, but the reasoning behind those sentiments varied.

Dozens of submissions came from patients, many of whom complained about pharmaceuticals they’d been prescribed and felt cannabis was a more effective treatment option. One person who said he or she is a registered nurse sided with those patients and wrote “in my professional opinion, it is both harmful and unethical to prohibit patients access to this medicinal plant.”

Others pointed out that marijuana is not as harmful as other legal substances like alcohol and tobacco. Several people argued that prohibition is an infringement on civil liberties.

Military veterans were also strongly represented in the comments, with some saying cannabis has helped treat conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain.

“I am a 59 y/o military veteran. I know first hand how effective a pain reliever cannabis can be,” one person wrote. “It is my strong opinion cannabis should be legal and regulated.”

Some brought a political angle to their comment. A self-described straight ticket Republican voter said he voted for Donald Trump in the last election, but that he will “endorse the next candidate who supports marijuana legalization.” Another person suggested that the president should legalize cannabis to troll liberals, delivering on an issue that is increasingly popular on a bipartisan basis.

“It’s draconian that you’re allowing states to arrest and charge people with felonies for a product that’s readily available in stores in other states,” someone wrote. “It also makes the federal government look completely inept because states have fully legalized starting in 2012. It’s been nearly a decade and there’s yet to be any sort of federal action.”

One of the only comments expressing opposition to loosening marijuana laws under international treaties relied on stoner stereotypes: “Cannabis makes you Dumb, Lazy, & Hungry !”

Taken as a whole, though, it’s clear that the public wants the U.S. to back marijuana reform when the issue comes up for a vote, which could happen later this month but might be delayed until a later UN meeting.

If adopted, the WHO recommendations wouldn’t change U.S. law—which classifies marijuana under the most restrictive category of Schedule I—or allow UN member states to legalize the sale of cannabis without violating international treaties. But approving WHO’s recommended changes would likely embolden more countries follow in the footsteps of Canada and Uruguay, which have legalized marijuana regardless of UN policy.

Expect more comments to flow in as the deadline, March 14, approaches. The last time the FDA solicited public input on cannabis rescheduling, more than 20,000 people made their voices heard.

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The First Marijuana Hearing Of The New Congress Has Been Scheduled

Congressional Democrats are already moving ahead with plans to consider broad changes to federal marijuana laws in 2019.

Whereas the Republican-controlled House for the past several years had blocked votes on most cannabis-related measures, the chamber's new Democratic majority on Wednesday announced it has scheduled a hearing for next week to examine the difficulties that marijuana businesses face in opening and maintaining bank accounts.

Titled, “Challenges and Solutions: Access to Banking Services for Cannabis-Related Businesses,” the hearing will take place on February 13 before a subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee.

Although a growing number of states are moving to legalize marijuana for medical or recreational use, cannabis remains federally prohibited. As a result, and despite a 2014 guidance memo released on the topic by the Obama administration aimed at clearing up the issue, many financial services providers remain reluctant to work with the industry out of fear of violating money laundering or drug laws.

"When we introduced this bill six years ago, we warned that forcing these businesses to deal in cash was threatening public safety. No hearing was given," Rep. Denny Heck (D-WA) said in an email, referring to marijuana banking legislation he and Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) have filed for the past several Congresses.

He lamented that Republican leadership didn't schedule a hearing on the proposal even after a security guard at a Colorado dispensary was killed during a robbery.

"Chairwoman Waters has made it one of her first priorities to address this urgent and overdue issue, demonstrating that she understands the threat to public safety and the need for Congress to act," Heck said of the committee's new leader. "We have a bipartisan proposal to allow well-regulated marijuana businesses to handle their money in a way that is safe and effective for law enforcement to track. I am eager to get to the work of refining it and passing it into law."

That a hearing on the issue was in the works was first noted earlier this week by Politico, and Marijuana Moment reported that the full committee is also actively planning to vote on a marijuana banking bill in the coming months.

The newly scheduled marijuana hearing is a signal that Democrats intend to move cannabis legislation this year, and is likely to be the first in a series of committee-level actions across the House on the issue.

"The upcoming hearing presents a real opportunity for the Democratic Party to assert their leadership by finally beginning the conversation on how we end the failed policy of marijuana criminalization," Justin Strekal, political director for NORML, said.

While two limited medical cannabis research bills were able to advance out of House committees last year, they never made it to the floor for votes. Meanwhile, Republican leaders consistently prevented members from offering marijuana-related amendments—including ones on banking issues—to larger legislation.

In contrast, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) suggested in a memo to party leaders late last year that they pursue a step-by-step approach to legalize marijuana in 2019. His plan recommends that Financial Services and other committees first begin holding hearings on incremental reforms like banking access, research expansion and medical cannabis for military veterans before passing bills on those issues as part of a lead up to ultimately approving broader legislation to formally end federal marijuana prohibition by the end of the year.

A House bill to protect banks from being punished for working with state-legal marijuana businesses that Heck and Perlmutter introduced garnered 95 cosponsors in the last Congress, and 20 senators signed onto a companion bill, but neither were given hearings or brought up for votes.

"Depriving state-legal cannabis businesses of basic banking services and forcing them to operate entirely in cash presents a significant safety risk, not just to those businesses and their employees, but to the public," Don Murphy, director of federal policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, said in an email. "Support for addressing the cannabis banking problem is strong and bipartisan, and it appears Congress may be ready to adopt a real, commonsense solution. Members concerned about public safety should be jumping at the chance to express their support for this legislation."

Congress has held only a handful of hearings on marijuana reform issues in recent years, and never before has any come at a time when broad cannabis reform legislation seemed to be conceivably on its way to passage.

"This hearing is historic for cannabis policy reform advocates, business owners and the banking sector, and could directly lead to the first in what is hopefully a series of positive changes in the 2019 legislative cycle," Morgan Fox, media relations director for the National Cannabis Industry Association, said in an email. "Allowing banks to work with cannabis businesses more easily will benefit public safety, increase transparency, provide more financing options for small businesses and communities that have been targeted by prohibition, and help companies thrive so they can further displace the illicit market."

Outside of the two committee markups of cannabis research legislation last year, which were not preceded by formal hearings on the relevant issues, Senate panels have on a few occasions held lengthy discussions on marijuana.

In 2013, for example, the Senate Judiciary Committee convened a hearing to dig into the fact that a growing number of states were legalizing marijuana in contrast with federal law.

The Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, which is not a formal standing committee of the body, hosted a discussion on federal marijuana enforcement in 2016. Its two cochairs, Sens. Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), have long been among Congress's most vocal opponents of cannabis reform, though Feinstein began to shift her position last year.

Also in 2016, the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism held a hearing on the risks and potential benefits of medical cannabis, but it did not lead to votes on any marijuana legislation.

Meanwhile, pressure to address cannabis banking has been growing. Several top Trump administration officials have indicated they support clarifying the issue.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, for example, suggested in testimony before a House committee early last year that he supports letting marijuana businesses store their profits in banks.

“I assure you that we don’t want bags of cash,” he said. “We do want to find a solution to make sure that businesses that have large access to cash have a way to get them into a depository institution for it to be safe.”

In a separate hearing Mnuchin revealed that addressing the issue is at the “top of the list” of his concerns.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that the growing gap between state and federal marijuana laws “puts federally chartered banks in a very difficult situation... It would great if that could be clarified."

And last month, Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting called on Congress to "act at the national level to legalize marijuana if they want those entities involved in that business to utilize the U.S. banking system."

Meanwhile, although many major financial institutions are staying away from the cannabis industry, federal data does show that an increasing number of banks are beginning to work with marijuana growers, sellers, processors and related businesses.

It hasn't yet been announced who will be testifying at next week's cannabis banking hearing before the Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions Subcommittee.

Source

Cannabis Magna Carta

William Barr, President Trump's nominee to serve as the next U.S. attorney general, made headlines earlier this month when he pledged during his Senate confirmation hearing not to "go after" marijuana companies that comply with state laws.

Now, in response to written questions from senators, Barr is putting that pledge on paper, in black and white. He's also calling for the approval of more legal growers of marijuana for research, and is acknowledging that a recent bill legalizing hemp has broad implications for sale of cannabis products.

"As discussed at my hearing, I do not intend to go after parties who have complied with state law in reliance on the Cole Memorandum," he wrote, referring to Obama-era cannabis enforcement guidance that then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded last year.

That said, Barr isn't committing to formally replacing the Cole Memo, which generally directed federal prosecutors not to interfere with state marijuana laws, with new guidance reiterating the approach.

"I have not closely considered or determined whether further administrative guidance would be appropriate following the Cole Memorandum and the January 2018 memorandum from Attorney General Sessions, or what such guidance might look like," he wrote in response to a question from Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ). "If confirmed, I will give the matter careful consideration."

And Barr, who previously served as attorney general under President George H. W. Bush, says it would be even better if Congress got around to addressing the growing gap between state and federal marijuana laws.

"I still believe that the legislative process, rather than administrative guidance, is ultimately the right way to resolve whether and how to legalize marijuana," he wrote in a compilation of responses delivered to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sunday.

But even as Barr reiterated that he wouldn't go after people and businesses that benefited from the Cole memo, he voiced criticism of policy directives like it and of the idea of legalization in general.

"An approach based solely on executive discretion fails to provide the certainty and predictability that regulated parties deserve and threatens to undermine the rule of law," Barr wrote in response to a question from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). "If confirmed, I can commit to working with the Committee and the rest of Congress on these issues, including any specific legislative proposals. As I have said, however, I do not support the wholesale legalization of marijuana."

Nonetheless, legalization advocates were happy to see the nominee reiterating his non-enforcement pledge when it comes to state-legal businesses.

"It’s positive to see Barr make the same commitments on marijuana enforcement in writing as he did in the hearings," Michael Collins, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance, said. "My hope is that he sends this message to all federal prosecutors so that states are given space to reform their outdated, broken, racist marijuana laws, and the country can turn the page on prohibition."

Elsewhere in the 247-page document, Barr says that he supports expanding the number of institutions that are allowed to grow marijuana to be used in scientific research.

"I support the expansion of marijuana manufacturers for scientific research consistent with law," he wrote in response to a question from Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA). "If confirmed, I will review the matter and take appropriate steps."

A single facility at the University of Mississippi has for half a century maintained a monopoly on the cultivation of cannabis for research, but due to concerns about the availability and quality of its products, the Drug Enforcement Administration in 2016 announced a process to license additional manufacturers. However, under Sessions, the Department of Justice has blocked the agency from acting on any of the several dozen applications it has received from would-be growers.

"I am not familiar with the details of these applications or the status of their review," Barr wrote. "If confirmed, I can commit to reviewing the matter."

Barr also acknowledged that, due to the passage of the Farm Bill and its hemp legalization provisions late last year, hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) and other components and products made from low-THC cannabis plants are legally distinct from those that come from marijuana.

"Products derived from hemp, including CBD, are therefore subject to different legal and regulatory restrictions than those derived from non-hemp marijuana plants under certain circumstances," he wrote.

He also pledged to "look into" pending medical and scientific evaluations of CBD, which could lead to its formal rescheduling under the Controlled Substances Act.

All told, the cannabis comments indicate that if Barr is confirmed by the Senate, the Justice Department would be poised to take a very different approach to marijuana issues than it did under Sessions, who has long been a vocal legalization opponent.

"After decades of failed drug war, it’s difficult to grasp the progress we’ve made in just the past couple of years. From a hawkish attorney general who sent a chill through the industry and threatened to escalate enforcement to a nominee who put his hands-off federalist approach to prohibition in writing," said Don Murphy, director of federal policies for the Marijuana Policy Project. "William Barr didn’t just wave the white flag, he signed a peace agreement."

NORML Political Director Justin Strekal said Barr is "incredibly wise to acknowledge that the genie is out of the bottle when it comes to the marijuana reform movement."

"Now is the time for the Department of Justice to work in good faith with the Senate Judiciary Committee on legislative solutions that address the senseless waste of law enforcement's precious time and resources due to the failed federal policy of prohibition," he said.

Source

Gun Control part deux

From Ron Paul at Campaign For Liberty:

Make no mistake -- they’re coming for your guns.

When Nancy Pelosi reclaims the Speaker’s gavel, the U.S. House is going to pull out all the stops to ram through the Gun Control Lobby’s radical anti-gun agenda.

And they just might succeed if you and I aren’t prepared to stop them!

That’s why I’m counting on you to renew for 2019 right away.

As I previously mentioned, I budgeted $78,413.89 to ensure Campaign for Liberty could hit the ground running in 2019.

With everything that’s at stake, I hope you realize just how vital it is for Campaign for Liberty to raise every penny of that -- and more, if possible!

While we know the gun-grabbers are preparing to ram through so-called “Universal Background Checks,” that’s really just a code word for NATIONWIDE GUN REGISTRATION.

And I fear that’s just the beginning. Believing they have the momentum, they could soon move on their entire agenda, including:

*** Feinstein’s so-called “Assault Weapons” Ban, which would outlaw specific rifles, shotguns, and handguns -- including ones popular with hunters and sportsmen -- based arbitrarily on nothing more than certain “scary” cosmetic features;

*** Emergency “Red Flag” gun seizures, allowing friends or family members to have your guns taken away based on mere accusations without due process or trial;

*** Raising the minimum age to buy or possess a rifle, denying young adults their Second Amendment rights at home while the government continues to hand them more powerful weapons and ship them off overseas on America’s grand military adventures;

So won’t you please renew for 2019 right away with your most generous contribution of $35, $50, $100, $250 or $500 today?

Your generous support will enable Campaign for Liberty to hold the line against the gun-grabbers and beat back their attempts to gut the Second Amendment.

We must make it clear to your elected representatives there is no room for negotiation when it comes to our Second Amendment rights.

The words of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution are so easy to grasp:

". . . the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

There were no asterisks and no footnotes. There are no sentences that follow which start with the words "unless" or "however." The right to defend your life and property shall not be infringed by the government.

Period.

Unfortunately, politicians are taking a lot of flak from the anti-gun media and the re-organized and deep-pocketed Gun Control Lobby.

While we may not have the backing of BILLIONAIRES like Michael Bloomberg and George Soros, the Liberty Movement’s passion and dedication to the fight is second to none.

Because every dollar raised from each and every supporter is so critical, I’ve decided to do something this year that I’ve never done before when asking Campaign for Liberty supporters to renew.

If you can renew for 2019 with a contribution of $35 or more, I’ll send you a copy of my “Farewell to Congress” speech booklet.

And if you can agree to $100 or more, I’ll be sure to sign it for you before my staff pops it in the mail!

I realize that’s a lot to ask for. But there’s so much at stake in 2019. We have to fight like never before.

With the end of the year rapidly approaching, and so many critical battles in store for us in 2019, I hope you’ll act right away!

The Dems now control the House just as the GOP controls the Senate. With Democratic leadership the House is going to go a different direction than the GOP House did. The majority of the Dems favor marijuana legalization. Unfortunately they also favor feminism,homosexism,affirmative action and gun control. It is the last one that we are tackling today. Mexico has some of the very harshest gun control laws on the books. How has that worked to the advantage of the average Mexican citizen ? It hasn't. There are only two armed factions in Mexico. The federales and local law enforcement along with other government agents on one side (all corrupt)and the armed drug cartels and other criminal organizations on the other. The people are defenseless and at the mercy of a corrupt government and/or the criminal gangs. Is that what you want for America ? If so you are alone. On the other hand if you value America then stand up to the liberal gun control goons and stand with Ron Paul and Campaign For Liberty in defeating them.

Smoke the vote

Who's on board with marijuana legalization and who is not? Want to vote for the pro-legalization candidate but don't know who they are? NORML solves that problem with Smoke The Vote. May it be your guide.