U.S. Mayors Call On Congress To Pass Cannabis Reform – & More News Here

This week, the U.S. Conference of Mayors – which
represents the 1,400 U.S. cities with populations of 30,000 or extra
– handed a decision urging Congress to move the SAFE
Banking Act of 2021, the MORE Act and the Cannabis Administration
and Opportunity Act (CAOA), which has but to be formally
launched.

The House of Representatives has handed each the bipartisan SAFE
Banking Act and the MORE Act not less than six instances in recent times however
the Senate has but to take these payments to a vote. Per the
decision, the SAFE Banking Act would “present monetary
safety for hashish dispensaries and associated corporations and
improve public security” whereas the MORE Act and/or the CAOA
would “legaliz[e] the medicinal use of hashish and the grownup
use of leisure hashish.”

The U.S. Conference of Mayors decision cited many causes for
its place, together with the broad legalization and
decriminalization of hashish in lots of U.S. states, the battle
between numerous state legal guidelines and federal legislation, and the shortage of entry
to banking and insurance coverage companies for hashish corporations which
forces them to function on a money-solely foundation, making them targets
for prison exercise. The decision additionally cited current testimony
earlier than a Senate committee from representatives from the Credit
Union National Association (CUNA) that one in each two hashish
dispensaries has been robbed or burglarized, with the overall worth
of stolen items in a single theft totaling on common between
$20,000 and $50,000.

There has been a current push in Congress to connect the SAFE
Banking Act to the America COMPETES Act of 2022, on which the
House and Senate are at present in convention to achieve an settlement
on their respective variations. The COMPETES Act would
“speed up U.S. manufacturing of vital semiconductor chips,
strengthen the provision chain to make extra items in America,
turbocharge our analysis capability to steer the applied sciences of the
future, and advance our international competitiveness, whereas supporting
sturdy labor requirements and human rights, amongst different key
provisions.”

While Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) is optimistic that lawmakers
will attain an settlement so as to add SAFE Banking to the America COMPETES
Act, an aide to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) not too long ago expressed
skepticism that attaching it will achieve success given Sen. Mitch
McConnell’s (R-KY) opposition to it. Sen. Schumer has
repeatedly mentioned that fairly than passing piecemeal hashish reform
corresponding to SAFE Banking, he plans to introduce a extra complete
invoice that might not solely allow hashish corporations to entry the
banking system however would legalize and decriminalize leisure
hashish with an eye fixed towards supporting communities which have been
most impacted by the struggle on medication. However, he and his colleagues
Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) have but to formally
introduce the invoice and have promised to take action by August of this
yr.

Disclaimer: This Alert has been
ready and printed for informational functions solely and isn’t
supplied, nor needs to be construed, as authorized recommendation. For extra
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