Newsletter
Congress votes to let veterans in cannabis industry get home loans (Newsletter: July 12, 2019)
Senate marijuana banking hearing soon?; Closed-door House cannabis meeting; AOC housing bill’s drug war provisions; Tom Hanks quashes CBD fake news
Subscribe to receive Marijuana Moment’s newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. It’s the best way to make sure you know which cannabis stories are shaping the day.
Your support makes Marijuana Moment possible…
This issue of Marijuana Moment, and our original reporting that is featured in it, are made possible by the generous support of 445 Patreon sponsors. Cannabis industry professionals receive valuable rewards for pledges of $25 and up.
- Thanks to Christa Casillas, Adam Downs, Richard Neely and Barb Zimmerman for recently starting pledges to support Marijuana Moment’s work.
Check out the perks of being a sponsor on our Patreon page.
https://www.patreon.com/marijuanamoment
/ TOP THINGS TO KNOW
The House of Representatives voted to end a Department of Veterans Affairs policy that blocks military veterans who work in the marijuana industry from getting home loans.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) said a marijuana banking hearing could happen soon, with a source close to the financial services industry saying it could be within the next two weeks.
Members of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee held a closed-door meeting to discuss issues related to medical cannabis and military veterans.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), a presidential candidate, filed new bills to end a federal policy blocking people with certain drug convictions from accessing public housing and scale back a punishment that even evicts residents for marijuana use by their guests.
South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D), a presidential candidate, released a racial-justice-focused “Douglass Plan” that would legalize marijuana and decriminalize drug possession.
Actor Tom Hanks took to Twitter to deny a fake quote that showed him appearing to praise a CBD company.
/ FEDERAL
Vice President Mike Pence met with Coast Guard members who recently seized 39,00 pounds of cocaine and 933 pounds of marijuana.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse said that federal government is growing its largest crop of marijuana for research in five years.
The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands held a hearing on legislation that would address marijuana cultivation on public lands.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), a presidential candidate, spoke about white privilege in the context of marijuana enforcement.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), a presidential candidate, tweeted, “Encouraged @HouseJudiciary held a hearing on the racial disparities in marijuana enforcement. To be clear though, pointing out the *vast* racial disparities in marijuana enforcement is not ‘playing the race card.’ It’s the ugly truth.” Separately, PolitiFact ruled that a claim he made about marijuana arrests exceeding violent crime arrests is true.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) launched an online petition “against racial injustice caused by federal marijuana laws.”
Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA) tweeted, “With the addition of Hawaii, the number of states legalizing or decriminalizing #marijuana keeps growing – all the more reason to pass my Homegrown Act & @HouseSmallBiz Chair Velazquez & @RepGolden bills to open SBA programs to legal #cannabis businesses!”
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) tweeted, “Our justice system should stop putting people in jail for ❌ Using marijuana ❌ Being unable to pay bail and start focusing on ✅ Corporations who engage in wage theft ✅ Billionaires who evade taxes ✅ The Wall Street CEOs who caused the financial crisis.”
Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) tweeted, “After decades of prohibition, Congress needs to have these important conversations and work to address the issues that come with the misalignment of state and federal laws as it relates to cannabis.”
The Senate marijuana banking bill got one new cosponsor, for a total of 31.
The House bill to require the Department of Veterans Affairs to study medical cannabis got one new cosponsor, for a total of 70.
The House bill to respect tribal marijuana laws got three new cosponsors, for a total of three.
/ STATES
Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) criticized lawmakers for leaving cannabis legalization out of budget legislation, saying the bill “fails to address the root causes of marijuana entering the black market while also taking the responsibility of writing regulations away from professionals and putting it into the hands of legislators.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a bill allowing research on marijuana-impaired driving. Separately, the state’s treasurer spoke about cannabis banking and taxes.
Kentucky’s agriculture commissioner tweeted, “Hemp has created over 500 full time jobs, is being grown by 1,000 farmers and Kentucky will have over $100,000,000 in hemp product sales in 2019.”
Iowa Republican legislative leaders rejected a Democratic request to create an interim study committee on medical cannabis.
The chairman of Missouri’s House Committee on Crime Prevention and Public Safety suggested that the state could decriminalize marijuana soon.
The North Carolina House Finance Committee considered farm legislation defining smokable hemp as the same as marijuana, but adjourned without taking action.
The South Dakota legislature’s hemp study committee held its first meeting.
Pennsylvania regulators added anxiety disorders and Tourette syndrome as medical cannabis qualifying conditions. The state’s lieutenant governor called it “a truly powerful expansion of our excellent medical cannabis program here in PA.”
Alaska regulators rejected the state’s first application for on-site marijuana consumption.
Ohio regulators are investigating two medical cannabis companies for allegedly lying on their license applications and violating rules.
Washington State regulators sent an update about the rollout of marijuana tracking software.
—
Marijuana Moment is already tracking more than 1,000 cannabis bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.
Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
—
/ LOCAL
New York City’s police commissioner said he knows marijuana legalization is coming but he has concerns about youth use, driving under the influence and illegal growing operations.
/ INTERNATIONAL
French officials approved medical cannabis trials.
The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution expressing concern about the bloody Philippine “drug war” and requesting that the UN prepare a report on human rights in the country.
Canadian regulators reported that the price gap between legal and illegal marijuana is widening.
/ ADVOCACY
Jackson County Democrats endorsed a proposed Oregon psilocybin ballot measure.
/ SCIENCE & HEALTH
A study found that “nearly one-half of CBD users experienced [adverse drug events], which displayed a general dose-response relationship” and that “common ADEs include transaminase elevations, sedation, sleep disturbances, infection, and anemia.”
/ BUSINESS
CannTrust Holding Inc. suspend all its marijuana sales after Canadian regulators found violations.
American Eagle Outfitters said it will start selling CBD products this year.
Dairy Queen fired a Georgia worker who made a marijuana-themed cake after mishearing a customer’s request for a Moana design.
CBD companies have found creative loopholes around Facebook’s ad ban.
Headset and Marijuana Business Daily announced a data-sharing partnership.
The Wall Street Journal looks at NiaMedic Healthcare & Research Services, which advises seniors about medical cannabis.
/ CULTURE
Musician Marilyn Manson asked a crowd at a Pennsylvania concert whether marijuana was legal in the state and when audience members responded that it wasn’t, he said that the cigarette he was smoking on stage was not cannabis but, “um, something medicinal.”
Make sure to subscribe to get Marijuana Moment’s daily dispatch in your inbox.
