Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee joined several of her colleagues and members of the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) for a press conference on Capitol Hill demanding respect for state laws and fairness for the industry. She prepared this statement:
“Today, I’m pleased to join my colleagues and the National Cannabis Industry Association in making one simple request to Congress: “treat the industry just like any other business.”
It’s past time for the federal government to end its counterproductive overreach into state-legal cannabis markets.
Last week, I was proud to join Harborside Health Center in celebrating the U.S. Attorney’s decision to end its unnecessary case against this health center. While it was victory for Harborside, there are still centers in my district and around the country that continue to face harassment.
Additionally, outdated laws continue to prevent many state-legal businesses from thriving, including our arcane banking laws. These laws serve only to trap these businesses in the cash-only market, restrict their access to capital and prevent them from engaging in simple business-to-business transactions.
This industry is just like any other, and Congress needs to ensure it has access to banking, just like any other industry.
As this year’s appropriation process begins, I will continue working to rein in federal government overreach, open banking services and expand access to medical cannabis for our veterans.
It’s past time for the federal government to stop erecting barriers between patients and their medicine.”
Source: Congresswoman Lee press release
