Federal Policy

A Justice Department whistleblower is testifying today that AG William Barr’s personal distaste for legalized cannabis has led to nearly one-third of the agency’s Antitrust Division merger investigations.

Congressional Democrats have put forward legislation aimed at addressing systemic racial discrimination by police that includes a ban on no-knock warrants for drug-related crimes.

Morgan Fox is the Media Relations Director for the National Cannabis Industry Association, a cannabis trade organization that represents nearly 2,000 member businesses.

The federal government is withholding $3.3 million slated for children’s mental health programs in Maine because the state allows students to be medical cannabis patients.

House leadership has included language giving the cannabis industry access to traditional banking and loan services as part of the latest federal coronavirus stimulus plan.

The USDA has released guidelines for hemp businesses to apply for and receive federal loans.

House Democrats have introduced legislation that would give cannabis businesses access to congressional coronavirus stimulus packages.

Congressional lawmakers are standing up for cannabis businesses’ right to access traditional financial services and the federal coronavirus stimulus packages that are currently unavailable to the industry.

The Maryland town of Hancock is being forced to pay back a $600,000 federal renovation loan after the town rented the rehabbed facility to a medical cannabis company.

Six cannabis business organizations have sent a letter asking governors to provide state-based loans for the industry as the federal coronavirus aid program specifically omits the cannabis space from receiving any assistance.

Businesses that operate adjacent to the legal cannabis industry will be ineligible for the federal coronavirus loan assistance plan signed by President Trump last month.

Legal cannabis businesses spent nearly $11 million in federal lobbying efforts during 2019 — the spending is nearly three times what the industry spent in 2018.

Eleven U.S. senators — all Democrats — have filed a letter asking the federal Small Business Administration to open up loans and other financial assistance to state-legal cannabis companies amid the coronavirus crisis.

The DEA has unveiled a new rule proposal that would finally open up the licensing of new research-grade cannabis cultivators.

Two bills aiming to improve veterans’ access to medical cannabis have passed through the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee this week.

A recent Veterans Affairs memo confirmed that employees of the agency can still be fired for cannabis use, even if they live in states where it has been legalized for personal use.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday that the IRS faces “significant problems” due to the cash-only nature of the cannabis industry and urged lawmakers to address the issue “one way or another.”

President Trump’s budget proposal for the fiscal year 2021 would remove a rider containing protections for state-legal medical cannabis programs; congressional lawmakers, however, are expected to override the move.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders pledged this weekend that he would legalize cannabis in all 50 states on his first day if he wins the presidential election.

Lawmakers questioned officials from the DEA, FDA, and National Institutes of Health yesterday about the federal limitations on cannabis research; Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-MA) accused the government agencies of hiding behind a cannabis “Catch-22.”

The House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee will meet today to discuss the ongoing federal barriers to cannabis research.

The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act cleared a second Democratically-controlled committee after the House Small Business Committee voted 24-10 in bipartisan favor of advancing the bill.