FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Contact: Violet Cavendish
vcavendish@mpp.org

Statement below from Steve Hawkins of the Marijuana Policy Project

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs will hold a hearing to discuss the various financial challenges facing the legal cannabis industry. The hearing, titled “Challenges for Cannabis and Banking: Outside Perspectives,” reflects the increasing pressure on Congress to pass the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, which would prevent federal financial regulators from punishing financial institutions that provide services to state-legal cannabis businesses.  

“Access to banking is a persistent obstacle for cannabis businesses. We should allow this growing industry to operate with the same financial services available to every other industry in this country,” said Steve Hawkins, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, the nation's leading cannabis policy reform group. “Restricted access to banking limits economic growth and becomes a public safety issue by forcing companies to rely on cash to conduct their business. Congress must take legislative action to solve this problem."

This hearing comes just two weeks after the first-ever congressional hearing that discussed ending federal cannabis prohibition and serves as a clear indicator that cannabis policy reform continues to gain bipartisan support.

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Founded in 1995, the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is the nation’s leading cannabis policy reform organization. MPP has played a central role in passing dozens of cannabis policy reforms in states across the country, including 14 successful cannabis legalization campaigns, and also works to advance federal reforms.

Visit www.mpp.org for more information.