Cannabis News of Note for the Week:
Ask a Pol: EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Todd Young: “I support [SAFER Banking Act]”
Green Market Report: Major changes to cannabis banking unlikely after rescheduling
Politico Pro Morning Cannabis (7/17): GOP Platform Targets Cartels (paywalled newsletter, text below)
Cannabis Reports of Note for the Week:
Report: US cannabis revenue softening
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Politico Pro Morning Cannabis (7/17): GOP PLATFORM TARGETS CARTELS
The Republican Party Platform was approved at the GOP’s national convention on Monday — and support for loosening federal marijuana laws is nowhere to be found. On the flip side, the platform also does not back blocking Biden’s decision to reclassify marijuana on the Controlled Substances Act.
The platform does mention drug cartels in detail, a policy area that includes — but is not limited to — illegal marijuana cultivation and sales. The platform takes a hard stance against drug dealers and cartel members, promising to strengthen immigration enforcement and increase penalties for illegal entry.
“Republicans will mobilize Military personnel and assets as necessary to crack down hard on the cartels that traffic drugs and people into our Country,” the platform reads, also promising to overhaul school discipline standards related to drugs and violence.
A stronger push against drug cartels could potentially place more resources into existing law enforcement work against Chinese criminal organizations cultivating marijuana in places like Maine, California and Oklahoma.
Meanwhile, the GOP picked a vice presidential candidate who says he isn’t an ideologue on marijuana and believes the issue should be left to voters. Despite being a millennial, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), told Natalie he was not happy when his home state voted to legalize recreational marijuana last year. He also voted against the cannabis banking bill in a Senate committee.
However, he’s also left the door open to voting for the banking bill on the Senate floor if some changes were made, and his name did not show up on a letter sent last week by the offices of Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) and more than 20 other GOP lawmakers calling on the Department of Justice to rescind its decision to reclassify marijuana under federal law.