Mitch McConnell hates weed, get over it!

Cannabis reform has been described as many things over the years, but the “poison pill” is unprecedented.

Mitch McConnell sounds convinced the SAFE Banking Act isn’t the right call for now. According to the Senate Minority Leader, the cannabis banking measure will essentially encourage irresponsible use of cannabis among adult Americans. He said the bill will only help Americans get excited about pot.

Mitch McConnell isn’t the only lawmaker defying the law, however; He’s been the loudest lately. A few weeks ago, the House of Representatives majority passed the SAFE banking measure for the sixth time, but some senators stubbornly opposed the bill until the end of the Senate chambers. Obviously McConnell is one.

The Cannabis Banking Act

The House of Representatives approved the America Competes Act for 2022, short for The America Creating Opportunities For Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology, and Economic Strength Act. Embedded in this measure are provisions of the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act. The main goal of this bill is to help the United States regain its position as the richest and strongest nation in the world. China has taken this position in 2021 thanks to its innovative semiconductor manufacturing and education.

Pro-cannabis lawmakers believe cannabis banking could be the driving force the US needs to compete with China. In the past decade, the bill has been sent to the Senate five times as a standalone measure or amendment. The sponsor of the bill is Rep. Ed Perlmutter. He has stayed true to his belief that traditional financial institutions should serve legal cannabis businesses across the country.

As with all reform measures related to federal cannabis laws, the SAFE Banking Act has met with mixed opinions in the Senate. Although this is the sixth time it has been sent to this Chamber, the political environment remains as divided as ever.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has fueled the anti-cannabis camp by escalating verbal attacks on the proposed SAFE bill. Just last week, he accused the majority of Democrats of voting to include what he called a “poison pill” in the country’s sweeping spending bill. He says the SAFE Banking Act shouldn’t be a priority right now, especially when other countries like China are spending money to improve their military and economic capacity.

Wrong priorities

McConnell’s comments in the Senate a few days ago indicate that he sees very little wisdom in the strategy proposed by Democrats to win the global competition against China. He said condescendingly that the Democrats prefer to get Americans high while their counterparts in China work tirelessly to improve their military and economic strength.

According to McConnel, combating rampant opiate overdoses with easily accessible and cheap marijuana is foolhardy. Great powers like the United States need better winning strategies to retake and maintain their position at the top.

McConnell made a misinformed statement while making his remarks. He said that Democrats who plan to include poison pills (cannabis reforms) or move the law all the way to the left would be making a very costly mistake. The truth is that the SAFE Act bill is not part of a plan, but rather a bipartisan affair. She is supported by Democrats and Republicans alike. Not just the Safe Banking Act, but other cannabis reform measures that have been proposed in recent years.

Left to McConnel, this Senate session would have been the last time the SAFE Banking Act was discussed. However, thanks to organizations like the United States Cannabis Council, the SAFE Banking Act continues to be debated. The organization works to ensure that critical cannabis laws are no longer dismissed lightly. Not to mention the growing concerns about the spate of thefts plaguing cannabis stores simply because they have limited cashless transactions.

Cannabis banking reform offers more

Mitch McConnell’s description of cannabis reforms as “poison pills” is more or less a slap in the face to advocates and lawmakers who see the bill’s potential. Steven Hawkins, CEO of the US Cannabis Council, stated that cannabis is not “just a punchline” and never will be.

Hawkins commented that the American cannabis industry is in the fast lane. The bidding industry currently supports at least 300,000 jobs and could top about $30 billion in revenue by December. He says cannabis could mean different things to different people. For some, it’s technology or finance, science, medicine, recreation, and of course, agriculture.

The SAFE Banking Act shouldn’t be called a “poison pill,” nor is it about ensuring that American adults get high enough on a regular basis. It is an important bill that focuses on fairness, public safety and health. It’s about removing the fear of being robbed from the minds of cannabis business owners and bringing to the cannabis sector the essential banking services that are provided to other sectors. It’s about bringing small, minority and veteran-owned companies to the forefront of the industry to take advantage of the pot. It is extremely important to make the cannabis industry as cashless as possible, rather than forcing a giant industry to settle all of its transactions in cash.

Of fifty states in the country, thirty have either medicinal cannabis policies or laws decriminalizing cannabis, while fifteen have legalized recreational cannabis use. This equates to hundreds, even thousands, of cannabis companies large and small with little or no access to banking services. The lack of progressive cannabis policies hampers industry progress and subjects operators to unfair restrictions in a competitive global industry.

bottom line

The strong bipartisan support for the SAFE Banking Act in the Senate and House of Representatives is impressive. Proponents are encouraged to stand firm as all look forward to judiciously slurring the Senate on the merits of cannabis banking reforms.

Lawmakers like McConnell need to be educated on the potential impact of cannabis on medical research, manufacturing and the financial sector. Otherwise, the SAFE Banking Act will continue in this cycle of passing the House of Representatives and defeating the Senate. There is high hope that the law will be passed before the end of this year’s session.

WHAT A MITCH!, MORE ABOUT WEED, READ THIS..

SENATOR MITCH MCCONELL DEFINITELY DON’T LIKE SECURE BANKING!

OR..

CAN REPUBLICANS LEGALIZE WEED WITHOUT MITCH MCCONNELL?