[author: Susan Ryan]
Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana. This week, Senator Elizabeth Warren offers the Department of Government Efficiency a marijuana-related way to save money. Jaime Dimon opines on the prospects for cannabis banking. The Nebraska legislature has several proposals to choose from in setting up a medical marijuana market. And finally, a Manchester, Tennessee Chamber of Commerce luncheon wins the prize for most interesting agenda.
WARREN LETTER
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) recently sent a letter to Elon Musk, head of the “Department of Government Efficiency,” suggesting a way to cut back on government spending.
DOGE should recommend that (the U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security) conserve resources by deprioritizing costly arrests and other enforcement actions targeting marijuana activity, at least where the activity is legal in the jurisdiction where it occurred.
No word on any response from DOGE; Warren indicated in her missive that the conversation has, so far, been one-sided, as a previous letter to Musk has met with no reply.
CANNABIS BANKING
Some in the cannabis industry got a bit excited recently, after listening to Jaime Dimon, the CEO of JPMorganChase, make what sounded to us like a fairly lukewarm comment on marijuana banking on “The Unshakeables” podcast last week.
We don’t bank marijuana companies
because there’s no federal law around it. We simply can’t
follow the law. If there’s a federal law, we probably would.
That doesn’t sound like a rousing endorsement of SAFE(R) Banking, but more a “yeah, come see me when there’s a law” remark.
NEBRASKA
We’ve talked a lot about the litigation in Nebraska over medical marijuana, but this week, we’d like to focus on proposals for regulating the market. Four bills were introduced to set up a way for Nebraskans to obtain cannabis. The ballot initiative legalizing medical marijuana mandates that the legislature put something in place by July 1. One of the bills would limit medical cannabis to only 300 milligrams of delta-9 THC and would mandate that it come in the form of pills or tinctures only. The other three are less restrictive, and each would protect registered patients and caregivers from penalty for use or possession of up to 5 ounces of marijuana.
AND FINALLY
When we think of the average agenda for a city Chamber of Commerce meeting, we figure it’s about municipal business regulations or plans for the 4th of July parade or some other important but not terribly exciting topics. Not in Manchester, Tennessee! A recent Chamber of Commerce luncheon featured discussion of school vouchers, marijuana and porn. State Senator Janice Bowling indicated that she would be re-introducing a medical marijuana bill in this year’s legislative session.
Be well everyone – we’ll see you next week!
