Montana senators get behind push for cannabis banking

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More support and pressure are coming to Capitol Hill to force cannabis changes

As time goes on, more and more support for cannabis banking reform is coming from big names in the country. Now, two Montana senators are reaching out to support a bipartisan effort to push related federal legislation through Congress. The support is intended to be one more boost before the end of the current term, putting pressure on those in charge to take swift action.

The SAFE Banking Act has been on the table for a long time and now these two senators are joining stakeholders in lending their support. This bill seeks to give legal marijuana businesses access to different financial institutions, such as credit unions and banks.

In Montana, there are a large number of dispensaries that handle their operations only in cash because financial institutions do not provide their services due to the fact that marijuana is still illegal at the federal level. With the SAFE Banking Act, these problems would be compounded as financial regulators would be unable to punish financial institutions that choose to provide services to legal marijuana businesses.

Although the Senate has become the biggest obstacle to this measure, national reports indicate that leaders of this group are considering the proposal. Senator Steve Daines, one of the initial sponsors of the bill when it was introduced last year, made it clear through a spokesman that he “continues to work to build consensus so that we can pass [the safe banking bill] into law this year.”

Separately, a spokesman for Senator Jon Tester also said the lawmaker is in favor of passing the measure before the deadline. According to recent comments, Tester has been working to add a provision that would prompt the Department of Veterans Affairs to conduct clinical trials on the use of medical cannabis as an alternative treatment for chronic pain and PTSD.