[author: Susan Ryan]

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana. This week, we see Janet Yellen expressing support for the SAFE Banking Act. Germany legalizes cannabis, but not a retail market. A group of Attorneys General express their views on hemp. And finally, Mike Tyson is selling cannabis edibles – only one guess as to their shape.

YELLEN ON SAFE

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen supports legislation that would enable banks to provide financial services to the cannabis industry. She has said so in the past, and she’s saying it again now. Specifically, she sees serious issues with the need for cannabis businesses to hold large amounts of cash.

I think it’s a real problem and it would be desirable to have legislation that alleviated this problem.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in Congressional testimony, March 21, 2024

In the same hearing, Representative Steny Hoyer (D-MD) clarified that “I am neither a user nor a suggester of using.” In case you were unclear on that.

GERMANY

The German government legalized cannabis for adult-use this week; the law takes effect on April 1. (Apparently, 4/20 is not a holiday there.) Although it allows consumption, home-grow and purchase in social clubs with limited memberships, it does not set up a retail market. As we have seen in the US, this arrangement can lead to a rampant black market; we’ll see how the Germans fare.

ATTORNEYS GENERAL

As regular readers will recall, the 2018 Farm Bill legalized the cultivation of industrial hemp. Due to vagueness in the language, intoxicating hemp, such as Delta-8, has made its way into the market. A bipartisan group of Attorneys General from 20 states and D.C. are calling on the movers and shakers on Congressional Agriculture Committees to tighten up the definition of hemp in the next Farm Bill. The bill is expected to pass this year, but there’s no guarantee on that, so it may be a while before this loophole is closed.

AND FINALLY

If you’re looking for a cannabis product with a tie to professional boxing, you might take a look at Mike Tyson’s new line of edibles. And yes, they’re shaped like ears with a bite taken out.

Be well everyone – we’ll see you next week.