Democrats Seek Updated Federal Financial Rules for Cannabis Business Owners With Weed Convictions

A group of Democratic lawmakers has written a letter to federal financial regulators calling on them to update rules that hinder cannabis business owners with past convictions for marijuana-related crimes. In the letter to the Treasury Department, 20 Democratic Senators and members of the House of Representatives wrote that the proposed change “would be an important step to promote fairness in the provision of financial services to marijuana businesses that participate in state-sanctioned marijuana activity.”

Under current guidance from the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) first issued in 2014, banks and credit unions are asked to consider a business owner’s past marijuana-related convictions as “red flags” that could affect the business’s eligibility for loans and other financial services. The guidance does not include exceptions for businesses that are operating in compliance with state law in states that have legalized cannabis.

In their letter dated November 14, the Democratic lawmakers say the federal guidance is unfair and fails to account for the legalization of cannabis at the state level. They note that the policy could cause a business operated by someone with a marijuana possession conviction to be ineligible for financing, despite efforts in some states to expunge past convictions. 

“Under this red flag guidance, a marijuana business owner with a marijuana conviction may be permitted to participate in a state licensing program on paper, but in practice may be unable to access a bank loan to grow her business because she is considered a high-risk customer,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.

The letter was addressed to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki. It was signed by Congressional Democrats including Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden of Oregon, Raphael Warnock of Georgia, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith of Minnesota, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch of Vermont and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. 

The letter was also signed by members of the House, including Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Val Hoyle of Oregon, Barbara Lee and Katie Porter of California, Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, Eleanor Holmes Norton of Washington, D.C. and Becca Balint of Vermont.

Current Policy Continues Disproportionate Harm of Prohibition

The lawmakers noted in their letter that the current policy “disproportionately harms Black- and Brown-owned businesses, whose owners are more likely to have a marijuana-related conviction, though they are not more likely to have violated marijuana use laws.” They asked that FinCEN update its guidance to reflect the changing cannabis policy at the state level, calling for those who have been pardoned or convicted of an act that is no longer a state crime to have full access to financial services without receiving a red flag from their bank or credit union.

“The updated guidance should clarify that if a marijuana-related act has been expunged, pardoned, is no longer illegal under state law, or is not disqualifying for obtaining a state marijuana license or permit (i.e. ‘state-sanctioned marijuana activity’), then financial institutions should not consider that offense a ‘red flag’ when conducting customer due diligence of marijuana businesses,” the lawmakers wrote.

“This would be an important step to promote fairness in the provision of financial services to marijuana businesses that participate in state-sanctioned marijuana activity,” the letter continues.

Cannabis Industry Applauds Proposed Policy Change

The letter seeking an end to red flag designations for cannabis business owners with previous weed-related convictions was welcomed by representatives of the regulated marijuana industry. Bri Padilla, executive director of The Chamber of Cannabis, said that “we wholeheartedly support the proposed policy changes to current Treasury Department guidance.”

“With legal cannabis markets in 38 states, it is safe to say that the guidance is not only outdated, it actively hinders the ability of cannabis licensees, especially minority-owned operators and small business owners to engage in and effectively participate in the cannabis economy,” Padilla said in a statement from the industry group to High Times. “Such a shift will be a small but critical step in rectifying the disproportionate impact on communities of color due to past cannabis-related convictions.”

Jeffrey M. Zucker, co-founder and president of Denver-based cannabis industry consulting firm Green Lion Partners, said that if adopted, the proposed policy change would be another milestone in the federal government’s slow evolution on cannabis policy, which got a boost earlier this year when the Department of Health and Human Services called on the Drug Enforcement Administration to reclassify marijuana under federal drug laws.

“By acknowledging state laws that have legalized recreational marijuana, the federal government could align its guidance with the evolving landscape of cannabis legalization,” Zucker wrote in an email. “Federal commentary may encourage further investment and participation in the industry, driving economic growth and job creation.”

The post Democrats Seek Updated Federal Financial Rules for Cannabis Business Owners With Weed Convictions appeared first on High Times.

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Snoop Dogg Announces He’s Quitting Smoking Pot

On Thursday, “Stoner of the Century” Snoop Dogg, 52, announced that he’s quitting smoking pot in a post that practically broke the internet. After trying weed in “the seventies” to smoking blunts and copious amounts of bud for a solid 30 years—his name became synonymous with the plant, and he’s grown close to High Times Magazine. Most people received his message warmly, and wished him on his new journey.

“After much consideration & conversation with my family, I’ve decided to give up smoke,” Snoop posted on Instagram, Twitter, and his other social media channels. “Please respect my privacy at this time.”

“I’m giving up smoke,” he added in the caption.

I’m giving up smoke. pic.twitter.com/DDVl9Syixw

— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) November 16, 2023

As stoners struggle to cope with a new existential crisis involving the top stoner, it’s likely Snoop will continue to support cannabis despite calling it quits for the time being. High Times posted four issues of the magazine with Snoop on the cover, calling him “Stoner of the Century.”

“You’ll always have a seat at the sesh whether you’re smoking or not and will forever hold a place of honor on Mount Kushmore,” the post continued. “It may feel like the end of an era, but it’s just a new chapter in the book of Snoop. You’ve got our support and respect.”

Stoner of the century. @snoopdogg – you’ll always have a seat at the sesh whether you’re smoking or not and will forever hold a place of honor on Mount Kushmore.

It may feel like the end of era, but it’s just a new chapter in the book of Snoop. You’ve got our support and… pic.twitter.com/4vufEeXdSc

— High Times (@HIGH_TIMES_Mag) November 16, 2023

Grammy Award-winning rapper Queen Latifah commented on his Instagram post, writing simply “We love you.”

T-Pain, who recently released the music video for his track featuring Snoop Dogg, “That’s How We Ballin,” issued a disclaimer on X, formerly Twitter: “This video was filmed before @SnoopDogg stopped smoking.” Snoop is smoking weed in the video, which was presumably shot months ago.

“Stay strong Unc #support,” T-Pain wrote.

Some Instagram users were left confused, however. “Define… smoke,” actor Lamorne Morris wrote in response to the post, while user @ambie02 asked, “Is it April Fool’s Day?” USA Today reports.

Snoop Dogg Quit smoke before Embiid made the ECFpic.twitter.com/FKZ1pqryo1 https://t.co/d8PEowpDl7

— JrueMuse (@JrueMuse4) November 16, 2023

Snoop Dogg’s Stoner Persona Begins

Snoop explained many times before that he’s been smoking for decades, getting his first hit when he was only eight or nine years old.

“The first time I got high off marijuana was in the seventies, with one of my uncles,” said Snoop told Esquire in 2008. “They had these little roaches on the table—these part-way-smoked marijuana cigarettes—and there was some Schlitz Malt Liquor Bull. I went in there and sipped the Schlitz, and my uncle asked me did I wanna hit that roach. And I was like, “Yeah.” He put it on the roach clip for me and lit it up, and I hit that motherfucker. I was about eight or nine years old.”

The way Snoop was introduced to blunts is now part of entertainment lore—similarly to the way The Beatles were introduced to joints by Bob Dylan. The Citizen reports that Snoop has been smoking blunts for about 30 years, after  Snoop said he smoked his first blunt with the one and only Tupac Shakur.

“I smoked my first blunt with Tupac,” Snoop told Howard Stern on The Howard Stern Show in 2018. “I’d never smoked a blunt before. I was smoking joints… I said, ‘Hmm, this sh*t tastes magical!’ 

“[Smoking weed] is a bridge, Howard…” Snoop said on the show. “I’ve met so many people and established so many relationships over a joint.”

Snoop’s many pursuits in cannabis include launching Leafs by Snoop in November 2015, one of the first celebrity cannabis brands to arrive before everyone else jumped on the bandwagon. 

Part of these ventures in cannabis included edibles. In collaboration with TSUMo Snacks, Snoop Dogg is launching Snazzle Os, a new line of cannabis-infused, onion-flavored O-shaped chips, to debut at Hall of Flowers and MedMen in California in early October 2022.

Snoop Dogg announced in December 2022 that legendary West Coast hip-hop platform  Death Row Records was entering the cannabis game with Death Row Cannabis

Most recently though, Snoop recently announced his product launch with Martha Stewart of their Best Buds Bags which are upscale bags with a slot to hold a lighter.

A few other icons of weed have taken a similar turn, with personal relationships with family in mind. Woody Harrelson said he gave up pot several years ago, but returned to the fold several years later, thanks to being reintroduced to it by Willie Nelson. Last March, Kevin Smith, also usually a major smoker, said he was taking a break from smoking bud as well.

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Two Men Sentenced to 16 Years in Prison for Fatal Cannabis Robbery in Oakland

Two men are heading to prison for their role in an attempted cannabis robbery that left another man dead.

Jose Antonio Alvarez and Omar Rojo, both aged 25, “entered no contest pleas to voluntary manslaughter and were formally sentenced in late October,” according to Bay Area News Group.

Both Alvarez and Rojo received an identical prison sentence of 16 years.

The two “were originally charged with murder and robbery in the death of 25-year-old Jaime Valdovinos,” the publication said.

Valdovinos and another individual were targeted by Rojo and Alvarez for a robbery of “a large amount of marijuana” back in late September of 2019, according to Bay Area News Group.

NBC Bay Area reported at the time that Oakland police said that the “man who was with Valdovinos told police that Rojo and another suspect robbed Valdovinos and him of a large amount of marijuana,” and that the “surviving victim said that during a struggle to get the marijuana back, the two suspects shot and killed Valdovinos.”

Rojo, who was 20 at the time, “was charged with special circumstances murder” days after the shooting, according to the NBC affiliate. 

“Witnesses and video surveillance camera footage indicate that Rojo was in the rear seat of a vehicle in which Valdovinos and the other man were sitting, Oakland police Officer Michael Jaeger wrote in a probable cause statement,” the outlet reported at the time.

Alvarez, however, was not arrested until April of 2021.

Bay Area News Group has more background on the sentence of the two men.

“Police reports allege both Rojo and Alvarez fired guns during the course of the setup. The shooting happened when the victims were attempting to get the marijuana back, according to Oakland police,” the outlet reported this week.

“Investigators said in a court statement that Alvarez was identified as a suspect through ‘surveillance video and witnesses.’ The plea deal includes a court order for both defendants to stay away from the surviving victim and to not possess guns after their release from prison. Both men were originally charged with crimes that made them eligible for life without the possibility of parole.”

The disturbing case highlights the dangers that still exist within the illicit drug trade –– operations that Bay Area law enforcement continue to rein in.

Earlier this fall, law enforcement officials raided a warehouse in Oakland filled with millions of dollars worth of cannabis plants, a bust that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said was one of the biggest the Golden State has seen this year.

“We have a history of combating illegal outdoor cannabis grows, which has evolved to a broader range of operations including warehouse grows, in support of establishing a thriving legal marketplace,” Janice Mackey, a spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told High Times in an email. “CDFW’s cannabis enforcement program is always gathering intelligence, receiving information and conducting an array of investigations with our state and county partners on various aspects of the illegal cannabis supply chain.”

Local news station KGO reported that the “authorities eradicated 41,082 illegal cannabis plants and destroyed 1,841 pounds of processed cannabis” with an “estimated retail value [of] $36,930,300” in the raid.

The station also said that three firearms were recovered in the operation.

Last year, an armed robbery at an Oakland dispensary resulted in the theft of $100,000 worth of products.

Alan Sorrentino, the owner of C.R.A.F.T. (Citizens Research Alliance for Therapeutics) Cannabis, the dispensary that was robbed, explained what transpired to local news station KTVU. Just before 3 a.m., Sorrentino said the robbers “cut the power to the whole building.”

From KTVU:

“The theft happened early Saturday morning and the owner says one of the thieves brandished a gun at him when he showed up at the store…Sorrentino says the intruders seemed to have an orchestrated plan that ultimately helped them get over $100,000 in stolen product. ‘Unfortunately they were able to get away with all of our inventory basically, so we’ve had to shut down,’ Sorrentino said. Sorrentino says his alarm company notified him of the burglary early Saturday morning and they both called Oakland police multiple times. He says he went over to the building and one of the suspects approached him with a gun, so he quickly left the area. He says he could see them on the surveillance video the whole time. ‘I sat and watched them pretty much loot the whole building for at least three hours,’ Sorrentino said. The robbers left a trail of destruction behind them: Busted walls where a secured safe was removed, broken door locks, and broken stair steps. Oakland police say there were at least three vehicles involved in the burglary.”

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