“MPP understands that the City Council decided to exclude safety sensitive positions. However, MPP believes the proposed rule goes [beyond] what is required by” the bill, DeVaughn Ward, senior legislative counsel at MPP, said in written testimony to the commission. “We are particularly concerned by the inclusion of a limitation for anyone who drives daily, which would impact large number of working class New York City residents.”
A group of cannabis advocacy and industry organizations sent a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to include the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act or similar language in the next pandemic relief package, which would create a safe harbor for banks and other financial services providers to work with cannabis and ancillary businesses that are in compliance with state law.
While decriminalization is a preferable policy compared to the status quo of prohibition, it does not go nearly far enough to address the harms that the war on marijuana has caused for decades.
A Louisiana House committee approved a bill on Wednesday that would significantly expand the state’s medical marijuana program by letting doctors issue recommendations to patients for any debilitating condition. Lawmakers also advanced separate legislation to allow dispensaries to deliver products to patients’ homes.
It was mid-February when Minnesota House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler (DFL) pledged to introduce what he’d called “the best legalization bill in the country” within the coming weeks. Shortly after, the state plunged along with the rest of the country into the global coronavirus outbreak, and marijuana reform was put on ice. Now, as states begin taking steps toward normalcy, Winkler has finally revealed the promised bill, introduced on Tuesday with 33 cosponsors.
Ricky Williams smoked marijuana a few times in high school, and a couple of times when he played football for the University of Texas. But the first time he noticed the drug helped him relax was during his senior year of college.
With marijuana still illegal under federal law, the cannabis industry can't readily access traditional financing from banks. And cannabis companies can’t get the same emergency federal loan assistance as other businesses that are struggling during this time.