Weed is likely to remain federally illegal, but ‘cannabis banking’ could pass this year

Cannabis stocks climbed, then drifted in the days leading up to a House of Representative vote due this week on a bill to remove marijuana from the list of so-called controlled substances, effectively decriminalizing it.

But policy experts, cannabis investors and at least one member of Congress agree: Don’t hold your breath on federal legalization happening this year. One glimmer of hope for the industry could be a change to banking rules for marijuana businesses.

“I am bullish on cannabis banking getting done this year,” said Isaac Boltansky, director of policy research at BTIG, in an interview with Yahoo Finance Live. “You have a few vehicles it can be attached to, the defense bill or the China competitiveness bill. We know that lobbying is cumulative, and they were very close last year. And I think you can wrap cannabis banking along with some of these restorative justice and research bills to make it more palatable to progressives.”

The House is likely this week to pass the MORE Act, which “eliminates criminal penalties for an individual who manufactures, distributes, or possesses marijuana.” But it previously passed the bill in 2020, only for the legislation to stall in the Senate — a process that will probably repeat. [Read More @ Yahoo Finance]