A pretty large scale spending bill has just passed the House yesterday, and within it are some provisions centered around marijuana.
The first and most consequential is the protections for banks that do business with marijuana companies. That has been a sticking issue on both sides of the aisle, coming up in the SAFE banking act that has bipartisan support. However, Senator Booker has stated his opposition to the bill, since it would get in the way of his larger legalization bill in the Senate. This seems to be a workaround.
Another one that has some recent significance is the allowance of marijuana sales in Washington D.C.. Although weed has been legalized in the city, a longstanding congressional rider got in the way of the government creating any taxes on sales. Therefore the market has remained underground, leading to the Chief of Police blaming marijuana for much of the city’s crime.
Other aspects of the bill include protections for Universities who study marijuana, a push for expansion of cannabis and psychedelics research, an emphasis on the medicinal benefits of CBD and terpenes, and much more.
Now that the bill has passed the House, it’s on its way to the Senate, where lots of shuffling naturally happens, especially in the more conservative and smaller chambers. So who knows how many of these provisions will remain in tact, but the volume alone is promising.
Read a pretty thorough description of what’s in the bill over at Marijuana Moment.
