Today, after the House Rules Committee determined that the SAFE Banking Act will be considered for inclusion in the National Defence Authorization Act, NORML sent congressional Leadership a letter in support of its ultimate inclusion for enactment.
The letter in part reads:
NORML maintains that the NDAA is an appropriate vehicle for the SAFE banking provisions. According to the American Legion, nearly 1 in 4 veterans report consuming cannabis. Most do so because of its therapeutic effects to mitigate symptoms of a physical or mental ailment.
To date, a supermajority of US states and territories have enacted medical cannabis programs, and close to half of the total American population now lives in jurisdictions where adult-use of the substance is permitted under state law.
Yet the ability of businesses to operate in a way that provides safe and affordable access to cannabis is unnecessarily difficult because of their ongoing lack of access to basic banking services.
NORML Political Director Justin Strekal says of the effort: “It is critical to balance the need to accomplish comprehensive reform at the federal level and make every effort possible in the immediate term to support the successful state-level programs to ensure safe and efficient consumer access to quality cannabis that is cost-competitive with the unregulated market. For those reasons, we support the inclusion of the SAFE Banking Act in any piece of legislation that is going to be enacted into law.”
Supporters of the SAFE Banking Act can contact their elected officials using the NORML action alert here.
You can view the full letter below:
