Good morning! The House is voting on a slew of appropriations bills all at once (it's called a minibus).
It include protections for::
-medical marijuana markets
-rec marijuana markets (amendment, passed yesterday)
-#cannabis banking
-colleges studying weed
I asked banking reps about the approps protections. They said it is temporary and won't ensure banks keep their FDIC insurance, so it won't help banks as much as the #SAFEBanking Act. In today's #morningcannabis:
More breakdown:
The medical #cannabis market protection has been signed into law since 2014. That is likely in the bag, and is expected stay in the bill in the Senate.
The rec protections were removed by the Senate last year, and *probably* will be removed again this year.
One thing notably absent: The "Harris Rider," which for years has kept D.C. from establishing and taxing their own recreational marijuana market.
It also was left out last year, but the Senate added the language back into the final bill.
Aaaand we're voting. Minibus comin' atcha.
Right now 12 Democrats are voting against the funding package, and no Republicans are voting for it. There are 232 Democrats, so they can only lose 14 votes and pass a bill.
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My parents in recent yrs have taken to getting a national forest pass to cut down their own tree because tree farm prices have skyrocketed.
This year she tells me “our tree is a little bit different, we weren’t sure at first but it’s growing on us.”
The tree:
The permit to cut down a national forest tree is $7.
I told her she got $7 worth of tree
She says it’s elegant and likes that it’s very tall (they’ve had one this tall before since you get to pick whatever size you want in the national forest for $7)
@SenSchumer took the podium tonight to usher through the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act, which passed by unanimous consent.
The bill passed the House in July, and now heads to Biden's desk.
The bill, which is the product of two separate medical research bills introduced by @repblumenauer and @SenFeinstein/@GrassleyPress, expands medical marijuana research and protects doctors who discuss mmj with patients.
Note: One key element of the House bill — allowing scientists to purchase and research marijuana products commonly sold in legal recreational and medical dispensaries around the country — did not make it into the final version.
Really quick "how Congress works" moment: just because a bill has been introduced in Congress does not mean that it is a serious contender to be passed in any chamber.
There are **45** cannabis bills that come up in a basic search of the term in Congress.gov.
There's a bill that allows cannabis advertising.
There's a bill to clarify insurance laws for weed biz.
There's a bill to give weed biz SBA loan access.
There are -multiple- vets related weed bills.
There are -multiple- bills to federally decriminalize.
Some parts of some of these bills might sometimes get folded into something bigger -- like what Daines, Joyce, AOC, etc. are discussing with pairing the HOPE Act with the SAFE Banking Act. But they'll never pass all of those bills in any given year. Some will never pass.
New #safebanking news: Sen @SteveDaines told me he is open to adding the HOPE Act as part of “safe plus” legislation that could be included in an end of the year package.
HOPE is the @RepDaveJoyce/@AOC bill that gives states $$ to expunge cannabis-related records.
“We're open to some additions to [SAFE]. I think the HOPE Act is one,” Daines said. “But if it gets bigger than that, I think we're gonna have a problem.”
Daines also told me Monday night that he had a bipartisan meeting with Schumer planned for Tuesday to discuss the path forward for SAFE.
Yesterday @AOC told me that she'll be talking about her HOPE Act at today's Oversight subcommittee hearing on #cannabis. The hearing starts in any minute and will be streamed here: oversight.house.gov/legislation/he…
Ranking Member Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) just thanked Biden for his executive order looking at the scheduling of marijuana.
Raskin says this hearing is to see what can be done on cannabis in the next Congress, whichever party is in control.
Reminder that five states have adult-use/recreational marijuana legalization ballot measures on the docket this November: Arkansas, Missouri, North & South Dakota and Maryland.
ICYMI: South Dakota voters approved legal rec weed in 2020, but the result was thrown out by the state Supreme Court for language that didn't fall within the state's constitutional purview for ballot measures. argusleader.com/story/news/202…
All five states have already legal medical marijuana programs.