Members of the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), the industry’s oldest and largest trade association, spent two days lobbying SAFE Banking Actthe cannabis company would provide access to traditional banking services, reported the Canadian press.
“We know right now if SAFE came up there would be a 65-70 vote,” he said AaronSmith, Chief Executive of the NCIA. “The NCIA fully supports sweeping reform… but we know the voices are there for SAFE, so our focus is on getting SAFE across the finish line.”
Canadian Co. weighs in
Omar KhanSenior Vice President of Corporate and Public Affairs for a Canadian cannabis retailer High Tide Inc. HITI HITIwas part of the delegation meeting with representatives from the Senate and House of Representatives from both sides of the aisle.
“Based on these discussions, I am cautiously optimistic that some form of SAFE could be passed during the lame duck session of Congress in November,” Khan said, adding that social justice discussions are taking place, while acknowledging that the Cannabis prohibition has disproportionately affected people of color in the US
Khan also said “plant-touching” operations to list on US stock exchanges would allow a Nasdaq-listed retailer like High Tide to “break into brick-and-mortar retail in the US” without risking its listing.
Is SAFE Banking around the corner?
Cowen analyst Jared Seiberg said Thursday that the House and Senate are working on a cannabis package based on the SAFE banking measure to speed up financial transactions. Seiberg remains cautiously optimistic as Congress could pass the cannabis banking bill after the election.
“If the Democrats manage to sweep the House and Senate in November, it’s likely that progressives in the party will push for a broader bill (…) [it is] also possible that an unexpected macro-crisis could push cannabis out of the picture in legislation,” reported market observation.
Senator Jeff MerkleySponsor of…
