Chuck Schumer Pushes For Cannabis Banking In His Weekly 'Dear Colleague' Letter

In his weekly Dear Colleague letter, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) renewed his call to pass a cannabis banking bill before the legislative period runs out.

"In the remaining months of this year, we also have an opportunity to advance legislation on a number of critical issues: lowering the cost of insulin and prescription drugs, safeguarding cannabis banking..." Schumer said in his Friday letter, first reported by Politico.

Schumer has consistently regarded the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act as a legislative priority though he's acknowledged that achieving it "will not be easy", especially without Republican support. 

“Passing these bills will not be easy, and we will depend on the cooperation of our Republican colleagues to get any of them done,” Schumer said in a July 9 Dear Colleague letter.

But Now With Changes In The Wind?

The week's groundbreaking news that the Dept. of Health and Human Services is recommending the reclassification of marijuana as a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act could vastly change the cannabis landscape.

Among other banking and financial issues that burden the legal cannabis industry, the onerous 280E IRS code which prohibits cannabis dispensaries and other businesses from being able to take tax deductions could go away.  

Meanwhile, cannabis stocks jumped on the news, as witnessed by AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF MSOS surge of more than 14% on Thursday. 

Join us at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Chicago on September 27 and 28 where you'll meet cannabis CEOs, advocates and individuals directly affected by this news. And, who knows...maybe we'll be looking at an entirely different landscape for cannabis in terms of legalization, cannabis banking, cannabis investing and all that this booming industry deserves.

All information is available on bzcannabis.com Benzinga Cannabis Capital