U.S. House of Representatives may Vote to allow Banks to finance Pot

Know has the SAFE Banking Act (H.R. 1595/S. 1200) “To create protections for depository institutions that provide financial services to cannabis-related legitimate businesses and service providers for such businesses, and for other purposes.”

Americans are falling ill and some have even died from a respiratory illness linked to vaping. Some 80% of these cases have been linked to marijuana vaping, specifically. In the midst of this, some members of Congress want to hold a vote on a bill to grant the marijuana industry banking access, vastly expanding investment and legitimacy to this addiction-for-profit industry. Please take action now by contacting your U.S. House Representative.

The recent vaping related illnesses, many of which are tied to pot vapes, have affect children ans adults alike. Congress must slow down on bills expanding the marijuana industry, such as the SAFE Banking Act, until we can get more information about what is causing the vaping crisis.The FDA has told the public not to use these devices and the CDC has not been able to identify a single substance that is solely responsible, but the overwhelming majority of people who are sick and dying from this illness have reported vaping marijuana. Oregon marijuana stores have begun pulling THC vapes off the shelves after it was reported a man died after using a regulated product there. This is not just a black market vapes problem.

In recent days, the Surgeon General issued the first advisory on marijuana since the early 1980’s, warning pregnant women and young people to steer clear of the drug. Today’s marijuana is nothing like the drug in years past. As the Surgeon General put it in 1982, “this is not your mother’s marijuana.” The drug today is fundamentally different from what we were familiar with 30, 20, or even 10 years ago. And now it is available in highly potent, highly concentrated forms, such as the THC vapes that are the real culprit behind today’s vaping crisis. Call your Congressperson and demand they protect public health. Vote NO on H.R. 1595 The SAFE Banking Act.

It would be reckless to pass a bill encouraging billions of dollars of investment into the industry behind this. The SAFE Banking Act has no public health guidelines, allowing these rogue businesses to continue to market harmful products like flavored vapes through social media and other venues. Everything Juul got in trouble for, these companies are still doing. I urge you to halt consideration of the SAFE Banking Act (H.R. 1595/S. 1200) until we can properly address the vaping crisis.