So-called SAFE Banking Act a Gift for Big Banks, Big Tobacco, Cartels at the Expense of Public Health and Safety
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 11, 2023 | Media Contact: Bob Driscoll bob@learnaboutsam.org |
(WASHINGTON DC) – Smart Approaches to Marijuana CEO Dr. Kevin Sabet, a former drug policy advisor to President Obama, released the following statement today in advance of his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee as part of the committee’s hearing on the SAFE Banking Act, which would allow marijuana companies and investors access to the U.S. banking system. Senator Sherrod Brown, the Committee Chairman, has vowed to act aggressively on the legislation over the objections of medical professionals, parents groups, educators and law enforcement:
“We’re about to see who really controls the United States Senate. Is it elected officials who want to safeguard public health and safety or is it the banking and marijuana industries with their billions to buy influence? The fact that they are holding hearings on a bill that is a trojan horse for full legalization of the drug THC during National Prevention Week should be viewed as an affront to the millions of Americans impacted by Marijuana Use Disorder and the mental health impacts of this industry’s products. The Addiction Banking Act would add fuel to the fire of our nation’s drug crisis by injecting billions in new investment into the pot industry. That may make big banks, big tobacco and the alcohol industry big money, but it will mean more high potency drugs in our schools and in our neighborhoods.
“This bill would give banks cover for federally illegal transactions. The Addiction Banking Act is both a legal and a financial bailout that will buttress the banking system at the expense of public health. It will also risk increasing money laundering by Mexican and Chinese cartels and other traffickers by giving them access through shell corporations to the U.S. banking system. The bill will empower companies and cartels who are already targeting kids and communities of color that the data shows clearly are being victimized by the industry.
“Just like the industry’s tired claims that drugs are social justice, their contention that pot shops are all cash businesses is just another fabrication meant to justify addiction-for-profit. Whatever gains in terms of government monitoring of these businesses will surely be lost by giving the addiction industry access to the largest financial system in the world.
“Democrats like Sherrod Brown, who apparently can’t wait to do the addiction industry a favor and Republicans like Steve Daines who ignore the science will be responsible for exacerbating the drug crisis if they buckle to these interests with this legislation. There’s clearly nothing safe about more drugs in America’s communities. Any member of the Committee who doesn’t understand that can be credibly accused of being in the pocket of the addiction and banking industries.