"Booker Calls For End To Marijuana Prohibition To Solve ‘Twin Crisis’ Of Ongoing Arrests And Lack Of Banking Access For Businesses"

“‘Federal marijuana prohibition is beginning to be more and more absurd, especially because most states now have moved to legalize marijuana, whether it’s for medical use or for overall adult use,’ Booker said. ‘And now we have a twin crisis” of cannabis criminalization and a lack of access to the banking system for marijuana businesses.'”

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

by Kyle Jaeger

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) says that federal marijuana prohibition has created a “twin crisis” where people are still being arrested over cannabis in many states while, elsewhere, state-legal businesses are being locked out of financial services, compromising equity.

The senator released a video on Friday that underscores the consequences of the policy disconnect and stresses the need to enact reforms such as the marijuana legalization bill he filed in July with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR).

“Federal marijuana prohibition is beginning to be more and more absurd, especially because most states now have moved to legalize marijuana, whether it’s for medical use or for overall adult use,” Booker said. “And now we have a twin crisis” of cannabis criminalization and a lack of access to the banking system for marijuana businesses.

While Booker described the banking issue in terms of equity implications, explaining how small business owners have struggled to compete without a means of obtaining loans and other services that are available to traditional industries, he didn’t mention a package of legislation that Schumer is putting together in consultation with bipartisan and bicameral offices.

The in-formation proposal, which is colloquially known as SAFE Plus, is expected to contain cannabis banking protections, as well as other incremental reforms like expungements, veterans medical cannabis access and more.

Booker recently said that he expects the bill to be introduced sometime during the lame duck session after the November midterms. But in the new videos, he only talks about the broad legalization legislation as a solution to the “twin crisis,” despite the expectation that it does not have enough support to advance through the Senate.