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Cannabis: In Focus

  • SAFE Banking Gets a Senate Hearing
  • Representative Nancy Mace Is Promised a Hearing on her Descheduling Bill
  • CLAIM Act Reintroduced in Congress
  • Hawaii Federal Judge Says 11th Amendment Protects State’s Choice to Define Hemp
  • Maryland Governor Signs Cannabis Regulation Bill

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Continue Reading Cannabis Legal Report—Week of May 8, 2023

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) introduced the Small Business Tax Equity Act (H.R. 2643) on April 17, 2023, a bill that will allow cannabis businesses to obtain tax write-offs for ordinary business expenses.

Currently, cannabis businesses are not able to deduct business expenses under a provision of the tax code known as Section 280E…

Cannabis: In Focus

  • New York City Attempts to Crack Down on Illicit Cannabis Market
  • Connecticut Launches Recreational Cannabis Sales, With More States Expected to Follow in 2023
  • Psilocybin State Updates
  • FDA Issues Three New Warning Letters to CBD Product Manufacturers Alleging COVID-19 Benefits
  • Congressional Research Service: Cannabis Banking and the Federal Reserve

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Continue Reading Cannabis Legal Report—Week of January 23, 2023

Late last week, a bi-partisan pair of federal lawmakers introduced a new bill to expand cannabis companies’ access to financial resources and opportunities. Introduced by Reps. Troy Carter (D-La.) and Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.), the Capital Lending and Investment for Marijuana Businesses (“CLIMB”) Act, H.R. 8200, aims to permit cannabis businesses to engage with community development, small business, minority development, and other public or private financial capital sources for investment and financing. Further, the bill aims to create a safe harbor for security exchanges to list securities for legitimate cannabis businesses.…

Continue Reading CLIMB Act Introduced in Congress

As Congress continues to debate the SAFE Banking Act, cannabis business and financial institutions should pay close attention to the bill’s potential to transform the accessibility of banking and payment processing solutions within the cannabis industry. In May, a national group of state banking regulators issued open letters to Congress urging passage of the bill. This action by state banking regulators builds upon prior support from groups like the American Bankers Association as well as dozens of state governors and attorneys general. Here, we check in on the status of the SAFE Banking Act and look ahead for its implications if passed.…

Continue Reading Where Is the SAFE Banking Act?

On March 23,  Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Or.) and Steve Daines (R-Mt.) re-introduced the SAFE Banking Act. As noted previously here, the SAFE Banking Act would increase access to banking services for cannabis-related businesses. The bill would provide safe harbor and other protections under federal law to financial institutions and insurers that provide services to cannabis-related legitimate businesses. While the bill passed the House last September, it ultimately failed in the Senate.
Continue Reading SAFE Banking Act Reintroduced in Senate

If you’re looking for a landslide in the 2020 elections, look no further than the undisputed winner—marijuana. In each of the ballot initiatives up for consideration, voters said yes to expanded liberalization in cannabis-related laws by undeniably wide margins. Voters from across the political spectrum in red and blue states alike approved medical and recreational cannabis laws, including the legalization of medical cannabis in Mississippi and South Dakota and the legalization of cannabis possession by adults in Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota. Legislatures will soon enact laws in conformance with these ballot initiatives. A total of 35 states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for medical use, 15 of which allow adults to legally use the drug for recreational use as of November 2020.
Continue Reading What Financial Institutions Need to Know About Banking Legal Cannabis Companies