Congress won’t include any cannabis provisions in its year-end spending package, dooming the chances of an overhaul of marijuana laws for the foreseeable future.
Not only will Congress fail to legalize marijuana this year, lawmakers couldn’t even agree to include a modest anti-crime cannabis reform as part of a $1.7 trillion government funding bill set to pass this week.
Reformers had hoped lawmakers would include a bipartisan measure allowing cannabis companies to open bank accounts. Currently, even if a business operates in a state with legal weed, most banks won’t take the firm’s deposits because marijuana remains illegal under federal law.
As a result, most cannabis firms are forced to operate on a cash-only basis, making them easy targets for criminals.
Several top Republican senators, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), opposed the banking provision.
“It is irresponsible to do this without a federal regulatory framework to address public health and law enforcement issues. Senators take an oath to uphold the law, not ignore it,” Cornyn tweeted last week, referring to the banking bill.
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