The momentum behind federal cannabis reform is greater than ever before. While President Joe Biden has stopped short of supporting federal cannabis legalization, he supports decriminalization and states’ rights to fully legalize. As Senator, Vice President Kamala Harris sponsored a bill to end the federal criminalization of cannabis. And this year, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, along with Senators Ron Wyden and Cory Booker, vowed to introduce legislation that would do just that and more. This week, the US House of Representatives passed a bill to expand the cannabis industry access to banking. While a version of that bill stalled in the last Senate, Democrats now have a majority. And a new Pew Research Center survey found that only 8% of Americans believe cannabis should remain totally illegal. Major companies are taking notice. Major companies are taking notice. In February, for example, Cannabis Wire was the first news organization to report that Marlboro maker Altria had started to get into cannabis lobbying at the state level, through its registration on cannabis sales in Virginia, and that the company planned to lobby at the federal level.
Nushin Rashidian, Cannabis Wire, 04/20/2021 20:00:00