Cannabis advocates and other stakeholders cheered the news that Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, will step down later this year. While it may seem positive for the marijuana industry at first, a closer look at his potential GOP successors shows that the reform movement will continue to be met with resistance by the party leadership.
McConnell is the longest serving Senate leader in the history of the Senate. He has a reputation for being a staunchly anti-marijuana senator, despite his efforts to promote hemp legalization under the 2018 Farm Bill. McConnell has been adamantly opposed to any marijuana reform. He actively prevented the passage of bipartisan legislation that would have eased cannabis businesses’ access into the banking system.
This record helps to explain the excitement of the industry following his announcement last week that he was retiring from the leadership role. There has been very little analysis of the cannabis policies of his possible successors.
John Thune, Senate Minority Whip (R) (SD), John Cornyn, former Whip (R TX), and John Barrasso, GOP Conference Chair (WY), are among the members who have indicated that they’ll be throwing their hats in the ring.
According to reports, former President Donald Trump has been pressuring Sen. Steve Daines of Montana (R), chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee(NRSC), into joining the race. The cannabis industry would certainly welcome this, given that he is the main sponsor of the marijuana banking reform legislation. However, the senator hasn’t committed to running for the position.
Let’s start with McConnell.
McConnell, as majority leader in the Senate, helped bring hemp to federal legalization. He hoped that Kentucky farmers and businesses could benefit from this crop. He has made it clear that he is not a fan of marijuana. He calls it the “illicit cousin ” of hemp, a crop he hopes Kentucky farmers and businesses will capitalize on.
McConnell claimed credit for helping stop the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act from being passed through a massive defense bill after Democrats regained control of the Senate and promoted Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, to majority leader.
He has repeatedly criticized Democrats marijuana positions, criticizing then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA), in 2020, for claiming cannabis could be a therapeutic to treat COVID. McConnell had previously accepted an honorary machete used to cut down “thousands of marijuana plants” the year before.
McConnell has left a lasting legacy in the cannabis industry with his legalization of hemp. For advocates and stakeholders it is a record sullied by obstinately refusing to move forward, even if this meant allowing industry access to banking under legislation which has been passed in some form in the House bipartisany at least seven different times.
Despite this, the GOP leader’s potential successors don’t seem to be allies either:
John Thune, Senate Minority Whip (R-SD),
Thune , who is a member of the Senate, said: “We’ll probably need to deal with cannabis reform here.” He has consistently opposed any proposal to allow banking for marijuana companies.
He called the Democratic-controlled House proposal to include cannabis banking reform in a large-scale coronavirus relief bill “crazy stuff” in 2020, complaining in a floor speech that the text of the underlying legislation mentions “cannabis” more times than “jobs.”
I was on the radio with @hughhewitt in the AM. We discussed the massive spending package from House Dems, which is really a grab-bag of Dem agenda items disguised under #COVID19 Relief. It was noted that cannabis is mentioned more than jobs. No one takes it seriously.
Senator John Thune May 14th, 2020 HTML0
Thune stated, “In case Democrats did not realize it, Americans do not suffer from a shortage of cannabis at the moment.” “They are suffering from a shortage of employment.”
He said the Democrats’ efforts to pass a marijuana legalization law was “a great illustration of the difference in priorities.”
This is a great example of the difference in priorities.
Democrats vote on the Tiger King Bill & legalizing marijuana while Republicans continue to negotiate COVID relief.
Let’s be serious and do our jobs for Americans.— Senator John Thune December 4, 2019
He said that while Republicans continue to negotiate COVID relief, Democrats vote on the Tiger King bill and legalize cannabis. “Let’s be serious and do our jobs for Americans.”
In 2014, Thune stated that he understood that “people on both sides have strong opinions in this debate but I do not support the legalization of marijuana.”
In a constituent’s letter, , a senator, said, “At this time, medical benefits of marijuana use are not conclusive. I think we should be cautious about increasing the availability and use of marijuana non-medically.” “However I support the development alternative medications that provide relief to patients, without opening the doors to substance abuse.”
He called it a “dangerous road” the following year. He added that Colorado voters “will pay a high price for this reform.”
Thune said that in 2021 cannabis was an area that is “still evolving” and that our country’s views are changing. He added “How we deal with it at a national level I think is still a question.”
In Thune’s native South Dakota, voters approved a marijuana-legalization initiative on the 2020 ballot, but the Supreme Court of the state overturned it. Voters rejected a legalization proposal for 2022.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
Cornyn, like Thune, has acknowledged tentatively that federal marijuana policies should be evaluated. Cornyn calls the cash-intensive cannabis industry “a real danger” for 2019.
He said, however, that the Senate first should hold an hearing on the “public-health consequences” of ending the cannabis prohibition before moving legislation to solve the financial services issue.
Cornyn described Schumer’s plan last summer to advance cannabis banking legislation as “wishful thought.”
Later, he wrote a letter to the Senate leadership arguing that the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation Banking Act (SAFER) would lead to the cannabis industry producing more potent products which would be harmful for youth and compromise the “integrity of the United States Banking System.”
He also objected to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2022 being amended to include an intelligence bill if it contained a Democratic-led clause to prevent denials of security clearances based on marijuana alone.
Cornyn said that in 2019, claims about the therapeutic benefits of marijuana reminded him of tobacco industry ads that claimed the product was medically beneficial. He also tweeted an article last year claiming “many Americans incorrectly believe that exposure to marijuana smoke was safer than tobacco.”
Corny stated that “from 1999 to 2020 more than 920,000 Americans have died of a drug overdose”, in a constituent letter from 2021. “I’m concerned that legalizing marijuana could worsen this epidemic.”
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY)
Barrasso has expressed opposition to the inclusion of marijuana banking legislation in 2022 manufacturing bills as well as 2020 coronavirus measure.
He stated that the bill championed Pelosi reads “more like a marijuana package than a pandemic-related package.” It’s because the word “cannabis” is used 68 times in this bill, which is more than how often she talks about jobs and hiring. It’s important to get our country open and reclaim our communities.
In 2022 he and the other GOP senators will release an public service announcement on fentanyl. This includes claims that it’s being added to marijuana and other drugs.
Barrasso, who represents one of only a few states that have not legalized marijuana, for medical or recreational purposes, or even limited CBD access, wrote in a constituent’s letter in that same year that he understood “the impact a lifetime struggle with pain has on people’s life, but there are legal and proven methods to safely address these concerns, as opposed to unfettered usage of any cannabidiol, or marijuana products.”
Daines has been mentioned as a potential candidate for the position of leader.
Daines, in stark contrast to Thune, Cornyn, and Barrasso is the leading GOP senator sponsor of the SAFER Banking Act, which allows cannabis businesses access to traditional financial services.
Axios reports that Daines, as chair of the NRSC is reportedly focusing on ensuring success for the party in the upcoming elections and does not have immediate plans to run for the leadership position.
Daines has also taken great pains to distance him from the larger push for federal legalization.
Daines filed legislation in September last year to prohibit federal agencies from rescheduling marijuana, without tacit consent from Congress. This was done as part of an ongoing review by the Biden Administration.
Daines, Thune Cornyn Barrasso, McConnell voted all last year to stop legislation focusing on expanding the research on medical cannabis benefits for veterans advancing on Senate floor.
Federal Agency says there is ‘little research’ supporting Marijuana Driving Impaired Tests Based on THC Concentration
Photo element by Gage Skidmore.
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