Republicans Block Ed Perlmutter’s (D-CO) Amendment…… Offered To House Financial Services Committee To Aid Regulated Cannabis Financial Services

Partisan politics in DC derides commonsense yet again.

We suppose when your money is pouring in from lobbyists it matters not a jot if your constituents might benefit from a sensibly regulated cannabis banking system that would send more money to Federal & State tax authorities to fund education, infrastructure and public serves.

Sometimes one has to wonder if they share a braincell between the lot of them.

 

Marijuana Moment reports

Republican congressional leadership is blocking consideration of a measure to allow marijuana businesses to deposit their profits in banks.

Many financial institutions are currently afraid to serve cannabis businesses that are legal in a growing number of states because of ongoing federal prohibition and the associated risk of running afoul of money laundering and drug laws.

As a result, many marijuana growing, processing and retail operations carry out business on a cash-only basis, making them targets for robberies.

Congressman Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) wants to solve this problem. Last Wednesday, at a meeting of the House Financial Services Committee, he offered an amendment that would have prevented federal authorities for punishing banks just for working with legal marijuana businesses.

“The regulatory confusion around marijuana and banking needs to be resolved,” Perlmutter said during the markup. “Prohibition is over. This committee has a responsibility to align the laws of the United States with those of the states so that there isn’t confusion. Public safety is at risk.”

Perlmutter referred to the case of an Iraq War veteran who was killed during a robbery while working as a security guard at a marijuana retail operation in Colorado.

“This is a real issue that this committee must deal with and confront and cannot overlook any more,” he said.

“I don’t think there’s a single person on this committee that is in a state that doesn’t allow some level of marijuana use,” Perlmutter noted, referring to the 46 states that either have comprehensive medical cannabis laws or allow limited uses of low-THC marijuana extracts.

Nonetheless, Republicans on the committee used procedural moves to block the banking measure from even being voted on.

Republicans Block Marijuana Banking Measure

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