{"id":42975,"date":"2021-12-29T20:24:08","date_gmt":"2021-12-30T03:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/when-will-federal-law-reflect-what-states-have-already-done-regarding-marijuana\/"},"modified":"2021-12-30T03:24:08","modified_gmt":"2021-12-30T03:24:08","slug":"when-will-federal-law-reflect-what-states-have-already-done-regarding-marijuana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/when-will-federal-law-reflect-what-states-have-already-done-regarding-marijuana\/","title":{"rendered":"When will federal law reflect what states have already done regarding marijuana?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Containers
Containers filled with marijuana. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Most states in the U.S. are in violation of a major federal drug statute.<\/p>\n

The 1971 Controlled Substances Act lists marijuana in the most dangerous category defined in the law, on par with cocaine and heroin because of its supposed potential for abuse and lack of medical applications.<\/p>\n

But 36 states plus the District of Columbia allow either full legalization for adult use or wide scale medical use, putting them at odds with federal law. Congress so far has been unable to come up with a solution, despite support from leading Democrats for a smoother relationship between the states and the federal government.<\/p>\n

State acceptance happened quickly, with Colorado and Washington the first to legalize adult use less than 10 years ago. By the first of the year, marijuana possession will be legal for all adults in 18 states \u2013 including Arizona, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon and Virginia \u2013 that make up 44% of the national population.<\/p>\n

That number has recently been growing: The governors of New Mexico and Virginia signed their legalization laws just this year. Montana\u2019s, enacted through a ballot measure in 2020, will go into effect New Year\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

The disconnect between a federal ban and increasing state liberalization has not stopped the marijuana industry from blossoming where it is legal. Since Colorado and Washington\u2019s moves in December 2012, the federal government has largely stayed away from enforcing federal law in states where the drug is legal.<\/p>\n

But the policy gap widens as more states join in legalization, touching on everything from banking to tribal jurisdiction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the federal prohibition of cannabis clearly is not preventing states and territories from enacting cannabis legalization laws, federal prohibition is still creating a number of hurdles for states, for businesses and for consumers,\u201d said JM Pedini, development director of the advocacy group National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, and the executive director of the group\u2019s Virginia chapter.<\/p>\n

Banking<\/div>\n

\"(Jerry
(Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Among the most obvious problems \u2013 and the lowest-hanging fruit for legalization advocates \u2013 concerns banking.<\/p>\n

Marijuana businesses, and some that sell related goods, are denied credit, small business loans and even checking accounts.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because banks fear federal authorities may prosecute them for working with businesses that technically fit the federal definition of drug traffickers, said Mason Tvert, a communications adviser with the Denver-based cannabis specialty law firm Vicente Sederberg, and partner with the firm\u2019s separate public policy office, VS Strategies.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of financial institutions will look at the law and determine that it\u2019s not worth the risk because cannabis is illegal at the federal level,\u201d he said. \u201cThey worry there is a potential risk of running afoul of federal money laundering and drug trafficking charges.\u201d<\/p>\n

Banks and insurers that do work with marijuana businesses often add a major markup for their services, Tvert added.<\/p>\n

Nick Kovacevich, the CEO of Greenlane Holdings, said that affects even businesses like his, which sells marijuana-related products but doesn\u2019t cultivate or sell the plant itself.<\/p>\n

A proposal in Congress to allow banks to do business with state-legal marijuana sellers would provide assurances to the banking industry, advocates say.<\/p>\n

The bill, known as the SAFE Banking Act, passed the House this year as part of the annual defense authorization bill but was removed in the Senate. It would go a long way in promoting mainstream business acceptance of the marijuana industry, Kovacevich said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a risk-reward thing,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot more banks say, \u2018OK, now I\u2019m comfortable,\u2019 and I think the risk-reward profile changes for them dramatically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dropped from defense bill<\/div>\n

The banking bill, first introduced in the Senate in 2017 by a bipartisan group, advanced in previous Congresses, but advocates were hopeful the new Democratic Senate would pass it this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were very high hopes it would be included in the national defense bill,\u201d Tvert said. \u201cBut ultimately it was not included.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kovacevich, Tvert and others blame Democratic allies for blocking the bill in the Senate.<\/p>\n

\"Senate
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., walks to his office as he answers reporters questions Feb. 8, 2018, at the Capitol in Washington. (Jose Luis Magana\/Associated Press file)<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York released their own draft legislation with Oregon\u2019s Ron Wyden this year to lift the federal prohibition, expunge criminal records for those convicted of marijuana offenses and create an investment fund for communities harmed by the decades-long war on drugs.<\/p>\n

In a July news conference, Schumer said the banking bill was too narrow and that a more comprehensive solution was needed, especially for minority communities that have been harmed by federal prohibition.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunities of color have paid such an awful price for the historical over-criminalization of marijuana that we want to make sure that that money goes back to them, and doesn\u2019t just get the biggest, strongest banker to just scoop it all,\u201d he said, according to a transcript provided by his office.<\/p>\n

Asked about Booker\u2019s position on the banking bill, a spokesman provided a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough the SAFE Banking Act is common-sense policy that I support, it has to be coupled with strong restorative justice provisions that seek to right the many injustices experienced by Black and Brown communities as part of our nation\u2019s failed War on Drugs,\u201d Booker said in the statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo that end, I have worked with Majority Leader Schumer and Senator Wyden to propose \u2026 comprehensive legislation that would reverse decades of unfair, unjust, and discriminatory drug policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Representatives for Schumer did not immediately respond.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear where the legislation stands heading into 2022.<\/p>\n

The Schumer-Booker-Wyden bill remains only a discussion draft and hasn\u2019t been formally introduced, though The Hill reported this month that Schumer may bring his bill up for a floor vote this spring.<\/p>\n

A large number of Republicans are unlikely to support full legalization, at least in part because their Senate leader, Kentucky\u2019s Mitch McConnell, strongly opposes it, said Justin Strekal, the political director for NORML.<\/p>\n

At the July availability, Schumer said he would work on senators to support the larger bill and pledged to \u201cget something done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very comprehensive bill,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to now go to our colleagues and ask explicitly to all of them: what don\u2019t you support here? What can you support here? We\u2019re going to get something done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tribal rights and interstate sales<\/div>\n

Though banking reform is the major focus in Congress, the federal prohibition also complicates state legalization in other ways \u2013 for example, in states like Montana and New Mexico with substantial Native American populations and reservations.<\/p>\n

Federal authorities with the Bureau of Indian Affairs have jurisdiction on tribal lands, which means they could potentially enforce federal drug laws there, even within the borders of states where it would otherwise be legal.<\/p>\n

Such was the case in a September raid on tribal land in New Mexico \u2013 after the state\u2019s legalization law went into effect.<\/p>\n

Citing the New Mexico raid, Montana state Sen. Shane Morigeau, a Democrat and member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation, said in an interview that tribes don\u2019t enjoy even the level of certainty afforded to states that federal authorities will allow them to conduct their own regulation of marijuana.<\/p>\n

Morigeau championed a provision that was included in Montana\u2019s marijuana law to give the state\u2019s eight tribes a unique opportunity to gain licenses to both cultivate and sell marijuana products to consumers.<\/p>\n

Morigeau, who highlighted the potential for revenue from legalized marijuana, said the provision was an attempt to involve tribes, which he said were generally \u201cat the bottom of every social indicator,\u201d in the new revenue stream.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe state of Montana, they can sleep a little easier at night because of this memo saying we\u2019re going to be hands off with you guys,\u201d he said, referencing U.S. Justice Department guidance to leave state-legal activity alone. \u201cThat just doesn\u2019t exist for the tribes. \u2026 For us, it was really pretty straightforward: These are areas in the state that could benefit from revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n

The federal ban also means product grown in one state can\u2019t be shipped to another, even in neighboring states where both have a legal program, like Oregon and Washington, for example.<\/p>\n

That can be good for growers in states with relatively small marijuana cultivation industries.<\/p>\n

But in Oregon, a relatively fertile ground for marijuana farming, with a relatively small population, growers are overproducing and driving prices down.<\/p>\n

Montana may have the opposite problem, Morigeau said. With limited growers and a prohibition to go outside the state\u2019s borders for supply, there could be a shortage after legal sales begin Jan. 1, he said.<\/p>\n

Virginia\u2019s \u2018quagmire\u2019<\/div>\n

Not every complaint about a state marijuana program is the product of federal policy.<\/p>\n

Plenty of states have shown how to operate successful programs, Virginia Delegate Glenn Davis, a Republican who is unhappy with Democratic leaders\u2019 rollout of the state\u2019s marijuana policy, said.<\/p>\n

Virginia should have looked to programs in Colorado and elsewhere, he said. Instead, when the commonwealth legalized possession of marijuana this year, the legislation didn\u2019t create a legal market until 2024. That means marijuana is legal to possess and even use, but not to buy or sell for three years.<\/p>\n

Davis called the situation a \u201cquagmire.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, there are some challenges because of the feds,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the quagmire that the Democrats created wasn\u2019t because of the federal government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the various complications with states\u2019 marijuana programs caused by the federal ban has frustrated those who want to see the industry treated like any other endorsed by any particular state.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the trajectory of public support and the growing number of states that have adopted these laws and the extent to which this debate has progressed, the industry clearly seems here to stay,\u201d Tvert said. \u201cBut it needs to be protected and it needs to be treated like a legal business.\u201d<\/p>\n

To read more stories from Colorado Newsline, visit www.coloradonewsline.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Banking concerns and threat of federal enforcement loom over an otherwise legalized industry<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,135,1610],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-42975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-marijuana","tag-recreational-marijuana"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42975"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=42975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}