The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is advocating future model state policies to resolve issues regarding banking issues for marijuana and for legalization of hemp and CBD:“Tasks forces of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a nonprofit that brings together conservative lawmakers and private sector stakeholders to draft and distribute model policies for consideration by state legislatures, discussed banking issues in the marijuana industry and enacting hemp and CBD legalization bills at the group’s 46th annual meeting in Austin last week.
ALEC’s Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development (CIE) Task Force tackled cannabis financial services issues during Thursday’s session, weighing a draft resolution that urges Congress to “enact common-sense federal laws that respect state law and promote public safety without compromising federal enforcement of anti-money laundering laws against criminal enterprises.””
With regard to banking issues:
ALEC’s support for resolving financial uncertainty in the cannabis industry is just one of many recent indicators that legislation such as the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act is considered a nonpartisan issue. The House Financial Services Committee approved the SAFE Banking Act in March, and the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on the topic last month, despite its Republican chairman initially stating that the panel wouldn’t discuss it as long as marijuana remained federally illegal.
And CBD and hemp:
Over in ALEC’s Energy, Environment and Agriculture (EEA) Task Force, members debated draft legislation for states that would “legalize the agricultural production and sale of hemp as well as Cannabidiol oil, commonly known as CBD oil” but explicitly would “not legalize marijuana.”
The model policy seems to be targeted at the limited number of states that still have hemp prohibition on the books despite the crop’s federal legalization under the 2018 Farm Bill. Those states include Idaho, South Dakota and Mississippi, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Meanwhile, the FBI is seeking tips on Marijuana industry corruption:
“States require licenses to grow and sell the drug—opening the possibility for public officials to become susceptible to bribes in exchange for those licenses,” FBI Public Affairs Specialist Mollie Halpern said on a short podcast the bureau released. “The corruption is more prevalent in western states where the licensing is decentralized—meaning the level of corruption can span from the highest to the lowest level of public officials.”
