Jeff Merkley

The top Senate Democrat continues to push for federal marijuana reform. Following a meeting with a group of fellow Democratic senators to discuss the path that would push cannabis legislation toward approval in the new Congress, Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) convened with several GOP...

Senate Democrats are not giving up on marijuana banking reform. Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) met Wednesday with several other Democratic senators to “ponder the path” that would push cannabis legislation toward approval in this Congress...

The Department of Justice issued a memo to congressional leaders regarding the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2021 (SAFE Banking Act) indicating its concerns about the bill. According to the department, the language in the initial House bill “could significantly...

Last week, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer met with Senate Banking Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Sens. Steve Daines (R-Montana) and Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), among other legislators, to talk about the SAFE Banking Act. Lawmakers said they were making an effort to find common...

U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) introduced the Fair Access for Cannabis Small Business Act last week, which seeks to enable legal cannabis businesses to access Small Business Administration (SBA) loans. The SBA, currently, doesn’t allow marijuana-involved small businesses to...

President Joe Biden announced he will pardon all prior federal offenses for simple marijuana possession, the White House announced Thursday, sending cannabis stocks soaring. The historic move signals the possibility of broader marijuana reform, something cannabis activists have...

A majority of U.S. voters support federal marijuana legalization, a new Morning Consult/Politico survey shows. The poll, conducted from Sep. 30 to Oct. 2, 2022, asked a representative sample of 2,005 registered voters if they would like to see cannabis legalized on the federal level...

Researchers associated with the prohibitionist group Smart Approaches To Marijuana (SAM) are urging Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to advance the bill that would substantially expand scientific cannabis research "as quickly as possible," reported Marijuana...

Sponsors of the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act recently discussed the urgency of enacting cannabis reform this session, reiterating the public safety imperative of providing the industry access to the financial system. Bipartisan and bicameral sponsors of banking reform said...

Senator Jacky Rosen (D-Nev) sent a letter recently urging the appropriations committee to provide licensed marijuana businesses with access to Small Business Administration loans, reported Nevada Appeal.  Cannabis companies are currently banned from accessing SBA...

About a quarter of voting members of the U.S. House have joined forces to urge congressional leaders to enact marijuana banking provisions into law as part of the large-scale manufacturing bill - America COMPETES Act. The group of 24 senators from both sides of the aisle have lined up...

The call for members of Congress to be banned from buying and selling stocks continues to heat up with a new report that seven members of the House of Representatives failed to disclose their stock trades. What Happened: An ethics group found that seven U.S. House of Representatives members...

Senators Reintroduce SAFE Banking Act While last week, the SAFE Banking Act was reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, while a parallel bipartisan measure was also represented, reports Marijuana Business Daily. Sens. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, and Steve Daines, a...

Last week, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) introduced the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act into the Senate, counting on the support of 20 cosponsors. This bipartisan piece of legislation was introduced in the House last month, and was approved with bipartisan...

The discrepancy between federal level and state level marijuana laws has created a host of problems for the newly blossoming industry. Disputes among law enforcement agencies over whether or not to enforce federal law as well as added red tape when it comes to marijuana research have been keeping...