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Editor's Note: Below is a brief excerpt from a complimentary research note written by our Cannabis analyst Howard Penney. Check out Consumables Pro for more research. |
First, Biden once again left out federal marijuana protections despite saying during his 2020 campaign that he would let states set their own recreational rules.
Second, The MORE Act is scheduled for a vote after Wednesday's House Rules Committee markup later this week.
The MORE Act would decriminalize cannabis federally, expunge some cannabis-related federal records and create social equity funding programs for the nascent cannabis industry. On Tuesday, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) told Politico she would not vote for the MORE Act as it stands.
Third, technically both chambers have "passed" the COMPETES (China) bills, but nothing is final because there are significant differences. The Senate moved yesterday to send its bill back to the House, which will reject it and request a conference.
SAFE is in the House version and not the Senate. When they decide what's in the final bill to send to Biden, and it's likely with @SenSchumer CAOA out in the coming weeks, he will kill SAFE once again.
On that note, Jeff Schultz, an NYC Cannabis Industry Attorney for Feuerstein Kulick LLP, mentioned on a Twitter space mentioned April 7 as an important date because that is when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would need to declare she will make a run for @SenSchumer Senate seat.
If the progressive wing of the democratic party is not breathing down the Majority Leader's neck, will that soften his stance on short-term cannabis reform and take the WIN with SAFE? Probably not. But anything can happen in DC!
Fourth, a group of senators is pushing the DOJ to reinstate Obama-era protections for tribal cannabis programs by sending AG Merrick Garland a letter on Thursday.
The letter was led by Sen. Martin Heinrich (NM) and signed by Sens. Cory Booker (N.J.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), and Finance Chair Ron Wyden (Ore.), among others.
"Tribal governments that have chosen to legalize cannabis have determined what is best for their members and residents on their land and how best to prioritize their law enforcement resources. The Department of Justice should respect these sovereign decisions and reallocate their investigative and prosecutorial resources accordingly."
Were you holding out hope for an updated Cole Memo?
In 2013, the Department of Justice issued the Cole Memo, which instructed US attorneys not to crack down on cannabis programs regulated at the state level.
A year later, the Department of the Interior matched it with the Wilkinson Memo, which extended the Cole protections to Native American tribes. Attorney General Jeff Sessions repealed both memos during the Trump administration, leaving marijuana law enforcement discretion up to individual US attorneys.
"Before 2018, US Attorneys could deprioritize cannabis enforcement where states and Tribes legalized cannabis in conjunction with effective regulatory and enforcement systems," the letter reads. "This discretion rightfully recognized the inherent sovereignty of Tribal governments to regulate their own affairs."
Federal protections for state and territorial medical marijuana programs have also been included in the federal budget since 2014 but do not extend to Native American tribes.
According to Politico, the Biden Administration has not mentioned reinstating either the Cole or Wilkinson memos. Thursday's letter also does not mention protecting Native American tribes from interference by the Bureau of Indian Affairs' drug enforcement unit, under Department of the Interior jurisdiction, not the DOJ.
But the letter is seemingly the first acknowledgment the Senate has made of the precarious legal status of Native American tribes that want to enter the cannabis industry in states where it is legal.
In August 2021, TILT Holdings (TLLTF) announced a new partnership with the Shinnecock Indian Nation, a federally recognized Native American tribe living on their traditional lands on Long Island, NY, to establish vertical cannabis operations on their aboriginal tribal territory in the Hamptons.
TLLTF would benefit significantly if we get clarification on the status of the Native American Tribes.
