On January 19, 2021, the House of Representatives were presented with H.R.365 – Marijuana 1-to-3 Act of 2021. The bill proposes marijuana become federally legal. To become law, the bill has to pass through the House, Senate, and finally the president. Once the bill becomes law, there are several other hurdles business owners in the industry will need addressed.
What would be Legal?
Once approved, marijuana will be removed from Level I of the Controlled Substance Act. A level I substance has no accepted medical use and provides a high potential of abuse. Consequently, marijuana will be classified as a Level III substance. To clarify, a level III substance has medical use, has low potential for dependency, and has less potential to be abused. Essentially, marijuana will be considered legal just like Tylenol with Codeine is currently legal for those prescribed. In contrast, states in which marijuana is recreationally legal, the plant would be decriminalized.
What About Banking?
Business owners in the industry know how hard it is to find a bank to hold revenue, provide funding, or simply pay bills. Because banks are federally regulated, they previously did not accept the marijuana industry. To alleviate this issue for many businesses, Safe and Fair Enforcement Banking Act will provide banking services for the industry. The SAFE Banking Act will prohibit federal regulators from reprimanding banks for providing financial services to legal medical related businesses.
Insurance Issues?
Similarly, the Clarifying Law Around Insurance of Marijuana Act has been introduced for insurance agencies to provide services to cannabis related businesses who operate legally. This bill would dramatically help employers in the industry who struggle to find insurance coverage for employees, or who have limited offered coverage. Lastly, this change could also decrease the contribution the employer and employee would make to an insurance agency when purchasing coverage.
Those Previously Charged?
The moment we have all waited for, decriminalization! The House has been actively reviewing the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (“MORE”) Act of 2020. The act will federally decriminalize marijuana, establish a process to expunge convictions, and finally will conduct sentencing review hearings related to federal cannabis offenses. In 2020 alone, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported over 350,000 individuals who were incarcerated for a marijuana related offense through out the United States.
In Conclusion
To sum things up, these bills will change the way the our country views marijuana. Of course, the bills address taxing the plant to generate federal funding to invest in oversight of the industry. Many Americans have long awaited the day when cannabis would become legal. Without a doubt, there are several issues that still need to be addressed. However, the current bills in place verify that the marijuana industry is on its way to becoming one of the biggest industries in the country.
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