A coalition of US Senators are urging leadership to permit licensed cannabis operators to qualify for loans and other forms economic assistance available from the Small Business Administration.
Tag: Congress
“At a time when nearly 70 percent of all Americans want to end our failed federal policy of blanket cannabis criminalization, it is unfortunate to see so many participants at this hearing advocating largely for business as usual,” NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri said.
“This is a truly historic moment in our nation’s political history. For the first time, a Congressional committee has approved far-reaching legislation to not just put an end to federal marijuana prohibition, but to address the countless harms our prohibitionist policies have wrought, notably on communities of color and other already marginalized groups.”
The MORE Act would completely decriminalize marijuana at the federal level.
Members of the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs are scheduled to hear testimony next week regarding the need to provide greater access to financial services for state-licensed marijuana-related businesses.
Members of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security heard expert testimony on Wednesday challenging the federal government’s failed policy of cannabis prohibition. The hearing, entitled “Marijuana Laws in America: Racial Justice and the Need for Reform,” debated the merits of various alternative policy options – including abolishing cannabis’ longstanding Schedule I criminal status under federal law.
In the first in what are anticipated to be multiple Congressional votes to address the federal prohibition and criminalization of marijuana, the House Financial Services Committee will today voted to advance The SAFE Banking Act, HR 1595.