Joe Biden has been president for 299 days and cannabis still isn’t federal?

During the election campaign, the Biden-Kamala train promised several reforms for the cannabis industry. However, since the government was sworn in in January, many critics have accused the Biden team of failing to implement progressive changes in the industry. Almost a year later, cannabis is still a federally banned substance, and the Presidency has shown very little interest in changing the current situation.

This is why we decided to go under the radar to examine the government’s impact on cannabis from January to date. Surprisingly, we found that in his short tenure, the president had actually kept some of his cannabis-related promises. Many said they didn’t expect cannabis legalization under President Biden in 2021.

A look at some cannabis-related moves by the Biden government

Most of these advances went unnoticed while some made the headlines. Here are the main achievements:

In-depth research on cannabis plants

For many years, the lack of or limited research on cannabis plants has fueled negative misconceptions about the drug. It contributed significantly to the stigma associated with marijuana use in the early to late 1990s.

The nationwide ban on the substance prevented scientists from conducting meaningful research to test the drugs’ therapeutic efficacy.

To maintain the ban on the drug, the federal government limited primary cannabis research to a small facility affiliated with the University of Mississippi. The monopoly on cannabis research did not prevent people from realizing the drug’s benefits. Even now, this is a major reason the details about some strains of marijuana sold in states with cannabis law are limited.

The Biden administration recently approved an infrastructure bill containing wording that would allow cannabis companies to be approved for research purposes at the federal level. With this, the monopoly of cannabis research is gradually coming to an end. In a few days, the law will be sent to the president’s desk for signature. Legislation also requires that a report be published detailing the effects of marijuana on impaired driving. The report is currently held by the Transport Secretariat, the Attorney General and the Office of the Secretariat for Health and Human Services. If the law is signed, the draft law will save the relevant date of the report for 24 months from the date of its adoption.

Bank access

It is well known that cannabis companies cannot use traditional banking services because of the federal ban on the drug. In fact, several measures were drafted to suggest that banking services be made available to cannabis entrepreneurs, but none were adopted. When medical marijuana was first approved about three decades ago, banks frowned upon cannabis-related businesses. Banks that wanted to enter into a working relationship with these households faced severe sanctions. The federal government has scared the bank officials to make sure the cannabis deals are left to their own devices. This is still the current trend, even in some cannabis-law states.

In his brief tenure, the Biden administration has more or less created a framework that allows marijuana entrepreneurs to have smooth access to banks. The SAFE Banking Act was recently passed through the National Defense Spending Act (NDAA). Capitol Hill politicians who drafted the bill said it was high time marijuana retailers got over the financial barriers preventing them from growing.

The bill has yet to be approved by the House of Representatives before being sent to the president’s desk for signature. The bill was first introduced in 2019 by Congressman Ed Perlmutter. He believed that legally operated marijuana companies should be federally protected and taxed.

Decriminalization of cannabis

The Biden administration could legalize cannabis before this term expires. The team is taking unannounced or underground steps to make sure things are in place for decriminalization. While many would prefer to see the action ahead of time, we cannot excuse the fact that many of these important decisions will have a massive impact on the country for several years to come. Whether or not the government will begin full decriminalization, record erasure, or full legalization efforts in the coming months is still uncertain.

The government has not expressed a serious interest in removing marijuana from the List 1 group. Many DC politicians have expressed an interest in helping Congress well when the time finally comes to decriminalize cannabis.

The MORE (Marihuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement) Act was reintroduced in the second quarter of the year. It was passed in the House of Representatives and sent to the Senate (remember, it stalled in the Senate in December 2020).

Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, an outspoken proponent of cannabis, has tabled another bill called the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act. This proposed law would introduce regulations that impose a tax on all cannabis products made in the country. To pass in the Senate, this bill must garner a minimum of ten votes from Republican senators. There are currently around 50 votes from major Democrats and some Republicans secured. Sixty votes is the accepted threshold for passing a bill in the Senate.

Things in stock for 2022

Biden’s government has many things planned for the cannabis industry in 2022. When the Senate convenes again, several cannabis-related bills will be debated and hopefully passed. We could also see Congress debating laws that could create avenues for the legal use of CBD products.

Final note

The Biden administration has many pro-cannabis politicians on board. Even if President Biden himself is not an ardent proponent of the cannabis industry, the country must legalize it soon so that it does not fall behind while other countries like Canada exploit the global cannabis industry.

It is evident that due to the pandemic, the administration is working on important issues in other sectors, particularly the health sector. Still, it is high time the cannabis industry got something concrete from this government. Medical cannabis legislation is not going to be a bad start.

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