“While it’s great the House reaffirmed its bipartisan support for providing a safe harbor for financial institutions…”

You may have heard the news today that the U.S. House of Representatives passed the SAFE Banking Act for the second time. While it’s great the House reaffirmed its bipartisan support for providing a safe harbor for financial institutions providing services to the legal cannabis industry, the fact they felt the need to wait until 4/20 to take the vote and announce it induced eye rolls from (according to my sources) at least one cannabis industry blogger in West Virginia.

I get asked a lot about cannabis banking. That’s why I did a whole interview about it with Linda Bodie, CEO of the credit union who won the RFP to handle all funds related to medical cannabis for the state. Suffice to say, we’re doing just fine in West Virginia because of the boldness of people like her.

But on the federal level, the fact that it needed to be passed a second time tells you all you need to know.

“Maybe the stingiest body in all of world government...”

The U.S. Senate, which is maybe the stingiest body in all of world government, has and will be the key to federal reform. Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would refuse to bring these types of legislation to floor for consideration. But the current Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is one of loudest cannabis reform activists to ever hold public office and alluded to the House action as a “partial measure” minutes after its passage. His unparalleled power to bring bills to the Senate floor is the primary reason reform is possible where it never was before, but actually getting something passed will be no small task.

Our old friend, Sen. Joe Manchin has positioned himself as one of the most powerful people in Washington. And this issue is no different, as any party line vote will require Manchin’s blessing. Unfortunately, Sen. Manchin has publicly opposed adult-use legalization in the past, and it’s unclear if that stance has changed.

The biggest roadblock, however, is the mechanism known as the filibuster. Which requires 60 out of 100 votes to end debate on a bill and bring it to a vote. While there’s a chance a few libertarian Republican Senators support legalization of some kind, the chance 10 cross the party line to pass a bill cooked up by Democrats is slim.

The legislation passed by the federal government this year that you no doubt heard about and probably have felt in your bank account was passed through budget reconciliation which requires legislation abide by the “Byrd rule” (yes that Robert C. Byrd) that - simplified as much as possible - necessitates it relates directly to the budget. This process is sometimes called a “Byrd Bath” which is not at all relevant. Other than the fact that it invokes an image of the late Sen. Byrd taking a bubble bath which is objectively funny as long as you ignore his association with the KKK, but I digress.

“These are huge wins… so why am I not celebrating…?”

Within just a few days, Virginia, New York, and New Mexico fully legalized cannabis. These are huge wins and not just incremental reform: 21+ sales, homegrow, automatic expungements, etc.

So why am I not celebrating? Because I don’t live in one of these states of course. As a West Virginian, seeing Virginia legalize is like hearing about your older, successful brother’s new finance job in Manhattan. Sure, we’re happy for them, but not really.

Widespread cannabis legalization, for so long, was a pipe dream (no pun intended). But now it’s so close you can almost smell it. No really, as someone who lives in a county bordering Virginia, it may literally waft over on a northwest breeze.

I’ve spent time working around the Pennsylvania medical cannabis industry. Advocates there rightfully complain about nearly constant product shortages, high prices, and non-complete consumer protections.

A nonprofit group, Americans for Safe Access, gave Pennsylvania a C+ in their annual State of the States Report. Some PA residents think this grade is too high given the problems we’ve outlined.

But it’s easy to forget about the large part of the country that has no access at all. At the moment there’s no legal way to access medical or adult-use cannabis in West Virginia, so unsurprisingly, we received a F grade from Americans for Safe Access.

“What about us…?”

This is far from the first time we’ve asked this question as West Virginians, but what about us? As we ask this, so does all of rural America.

Well, we’re closer than we’ve ever been. State Delegate Mike Pushkin forced a vote on his amendment to the larger bill regarding the criminal code, which would have effectively removed penalties for possession, failed narrowly (46-53).

Why not just have a vote on a stand alone decriminalization bill? Because politics. Most cannabis related bills, including a bill simply designed to allow medical cannabis edibles (only for people like the terminally ill and other extremely sick people) that dominated its vote on the Senate floor (26-8), unofficially died in the House Health and Human Resources Committee at the hands it’s chair, Del. Jeffrey Pack of Raleigh. A prohibitionist, Pack refused to place any cannabis related bill on the committee agenda, thus killing them.

In a last ditch effort, Pushkin moved that the bill regarding edibles be discharged from its committee and be moved to the House floor for a vote. The motion was tabled, and thus killed, by House Majority Leader Del. Amy Summers. I think we’ve outlined just how powerful a governing body’s majority leader can be, and the WV House of Delegates is no different. Del. Summers holds a lot of sway in the House and is a zealous proponent of prohibition. Summers and Pack represent the biggest roadblocks to state reform. I would say politely contact them and let them know your disappointment, but the chances these ideologues budge are slim.

Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on your faith in Sen. Schumer), legalization in West Virginia will likely have to wait for federal reform. Del. Marty Gearheart, from my home 27th district and one of the 53 who voted against decriminalization, said “If the feds reschedule marijuana, it could be legal here.” So it does seem likely West Virginia would follow the feds when they do in fact get something passed. 

It’s possible that WV could take the lead before then as Governor Justice gave tacit support for taxing the “absolute crap” out of it to help pay for his failed income tax elimination idea and indicated he would sign a legalization bill if it reached his desk. Big Jim, however, will have to throw his considerable weight (both politically and physically) around to whip up the necessary votes from his own party.

As long as the reform is going state by state as it has been, the rural South will be last. As a West Virginian, I’m tired of being last. 

A comprehensive argument for adult-use cannabis legalization is beyond the scope of this article, but I’ll leave it at this. When the government steps in to incarcerate people for crimes with no victims, presumably “protecting” them from themselves, that’s tyranny. When we put people in jail for crimes with no victims, we all pay for it in the human carnage that ripples throughout our community and literally pay for it in the jail bill that comes due. And legalization is the only way to beat the “drug dealers'' for good, destroying their market, and taking their revenue to put in the pocket of tax paying citizens.