New analysis of SAFE Banking Act calls for 10 amendments to improve equity

A paper from the Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition (CRCC) was released August 12 by Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law. The paper, entitled Not a SAFE Bet: Equitable Access to Cannabis Banking, An Analysis of the SAFE Banking Act, analyzes the Safe and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (SAFE) and makes numerous suggestions for improvement.

Authors Cat Packer, Shaleen Title, Rafi Aliya Crockett and Dasheeda Dawson find that the SAFE Banking Act is not sufficient in its current form. “Unfortunately, SAFE, as written, is unlikely to result in equal access to financial services,” they wrote in the study’s abstract. “This paper summarizes the bill, analyzes why it would fall short of its purported goals, and makes recommendations for improving the bill.”

“SAFE would only address the legal and regulatory ramifications that financial institutions may face when providing services to the cannabis industry,” the authors write in their abstract. “Without additional legislative changes to directly address the challenges related to fair and equitable access to financial services, small and minority-owned cannabis companies that currently do not have adequate access to banking services or credit will likely continue to be denied the full breadth and depth of services offered to others .”

The authors have compiled 10 recommendations that could help improve future cannabis banking reform (read the full explanation for each recommendation here). In summary, these recommendations cover a thorough collection of improvement topics such as: Expanding requirements for anti-discrimination laws, identifying best practices for federal bank regulators, and more.

The authors concluded that although a gap in cannabis policy has developed, now is the time to address these concerns. “The continued criminalization of cannabis at the federal level, coupled with an increasing number of states licensing medicinal or adult cannabis activities, has resulted in a widening political divide between state and federal cannabis laws,” the authors said. “However, because of the widely accepted medical uses of cannabis, the existing state and local efforts to authorize, license and regulate cannabis for medical and adult use, and the bipartisan support of the American public for cannabis legalization, many believe it that this is no longer a matter of ‘if’ or ‘when’ this gap will be closed, but ‘how’.”

Ultimately, the CRCC authors only recommend the SAFE Banking Act in its current form if these issues are discussed. “Therefore, whether Congress decides to pass cannabis banking reform as part of broader cannabis policy reform or as a separate matter, Congress should ensure that all legislation related to cannabis banking reform contains explicit provisions , which aim to ensure fairness and equity access to financial services for everyone in the cannabis industry. Until the SAFE Banking Act is amended to include such provisions, achieving justice in cannabis banking should not be taken for granted.”

The release of this paper, along with these 10 recommendations, comes nearly a month after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, and Senator Cory Booker tabled the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act in July. Reports predict compromises could be made, with the possible release of a bill being dubbed “SAFE Banking Plus”.

On Wednesday, August 17, the CRCC is hosting a Cannabis Regulatory Deep Dive to complete this analysis with all four contributing authors and Maritza Perez, Director of the Office of Federal Affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance, who will moderate the meeting. to discuss . The event will take place at 12 p.m. ET via Zoom.