Minorities for Medical Marijuana >>> Visits Washington DC

While cannabis legalization measures create economic and employment opportunities along with giving safe and legal access to medical cannabis patients, it should always be importantly remembered that none of those bills and legislation would’ve come into fruition without the tireless work of cannabis advocates meeting with their democratically elected representatives. Whether it be a piece of legislation on the state level or a federal reform bill that could be groundbreaking nationwide, none of these bills would’ve had a chance of survival had it not been for activists for the multi-useful plant passionately walking the halls of their respective Capitol buildings and telling their deeply personal stories to the representatives who will be crucial in the vote for those reforms.

One such organization of strong Nevadan cannabis advocates whose members recently took a very meaningful trip to our nation’s capital was Minorities for Medical Marijuana. A national cannabis reform organization dedicated to diversifying the cannabis community and industry as well as the voices of advocates, M4MM has chapters and state directors in 27 states and counting. In the Nevada chapter, there are a number of courageous champions for cannabis such as National Community Program Director Nicole Buffong who has been featured in numerous articles over her years in cannabis advocacy.

“More than 20 individuals from all over the country met in Washington DC to use their voices to represent their respective states.” Buffong said. “The objective was to discuss policy that was already in motion on capitol hill that would affect the cannabis and hemp industry in the country.”

Another warrior of a cannabis advocate who accompanied Nevada M4MM members is Christina Thomas. A woman of many titles and accomplishments, Thomas is an Air Force veteran and mother as well as a certified medical cannabis consultant who has advocated for her fellow brave veterans through a variety of roles and strategies for two decades.

“I work on Mayor Goodman and Governor Lombardo’s Challenge Veteran initiative teams for the state of Nevada and Las Vegas as well as being a part of the State Health Improvement Planning Committee.” Thomas said.

“I am the Chair to Southern Nevada Veterans’ Mental Health Advocacy Council as well as the President to the Veterans Advocacy Council’s Community Development Coalition that works to braid together local, state and federal resources for the community that is run by veteran directors, liaisons and families that support the betterment of the community.”

Thomas’ work is vital in the unfortunately still occurring battle against the suffering of American veterans following their service. I don’t believe that it violates journalistic objectivity to say that our nation’s heroes who bravely fought for our freedoms deserve nothing but the absolute best from both life and country, yet that’s a positive sentiment that’s tragically far from the truth in many cases.

From the laundry list of potentially dangerous pharmaceuticals to the lack of proper health services that the underfunded Veterans Affairs could offer, veterans issues still need and deserve all the advocacy that those matters could receive.

“We serve more than our veterans although our focus is to ensure our veterans and families are taken care of first. Our work is along the lines of housing, hiring and whole healthcare to include alternative therapies.”

During their recent mission in Washington which coincided with both her and Buffong’s appearances as panelists at the National Cannabis Festival in DC, M4MM advocated for and met with representatives regarding a number of bills with tremendous potential for desperately needed reform on the federal level. The first being the reintroduction of the SAFE Banking Act, this time being sponsored mainly in Congress by a Republican representative; David Joyce of Ohio. This bill would essentially allow any FDIC-insured bank, which is the overwhelming majority of nationally located

BY JOSH KASOFF

banks, to allow financial services to state-legal cannabis businesses.

“With very intentional language added to the bill we support The Safe Banking Act.” Buffong explained. “This intentional language would have to allow small banks to give loans to cannabis companies and to allow US cannabis companies to be valued on the US Stock Exchange. As it is written now, there is not enough language to protect banks that want to make loans and do business with cannabis companies.”

Buffong discussed the financial impact that the current lack of banking services has on smaller cannabis companies in comparison to multistate operators or cultivations with exorbitantly wealthy investors and backers. “Safe banking is not being supported by big operators as they have the money to wait this out. The small operators and social equity brands do not have the same resources. Without the security and safety of operating a legal business by having access to banking, they will fail.”

This most recently filed iteration of the SAFE Banking Act has certain provisions attached to it that could be incredibly beneficial towards both Thomas’ fellow veterans and the thousands of Americans irreparably impacted by cannabis policy of yesteryear. The Harnessing Opportunities by Pursuing Expungement (HOPE) Act would incentivize states and local municipalities to provide badly needed expungement opportunities for nonviolent cannabis charges for their citizens and the Veterans Marijuana Research Act which would allow further research on how medical cannabis could treat PTSD-related conditions. And for the veterans that wish to still have their 2nd Amendment rights protected despite the fact that they’re medical cannabis patients, there would also be a provision ensuring that gun rights stay intact via the Gun Rights and Marijuana (GRAM) Act.

Another bill that is especially personal to Thomas is an amendment that would allow veterans working in the cannabis industry to still have access to home loans from the VA that they are currently barred from given their employment.

Whichever Congressional member comes up with these clever names must feel extremely proud of themselves.

Other bills that were discussed include the bill introduced by South Carolina Congresswoman Rep. Nancy Mace. A lifelong Republican, Mace’s States Reform Act would remove cannabis from the frequently discredited status of Schedule 1. This single piece of legislation would allow for major reforms specifically within the advancement of medical cannabis research that has been largely hindered by the drug war.

Beyond even solely cannabis reform, Thomas and Buffong advocated for agriculture bills that would positively impact the rapidly growing industrial hemp industry that has been constructed since the 2018 Farm Bill. As the descendent of generations of farmers, the 2023 Farm Bill is another bill that Thomas is strongly advocating for.

“For me as an heir of a century old farm who was raised farming and in forestry as a Future Farmer of America,” Thomas explained, “I had a full understanding of what it was to talk about agriculture and its impact. I watched my father, a Vietnam Veteran himself, fall victim as an organic small business farmer under the Department of Agriculture back in the 80s and 90s.”

Although social equity’s inclusion in the cannabis industry is a frequently discussed topic, how the industrial hemp could be more inclusive towards minority farmers is also a matter worth advocating for. In her meetings with various representatives, Thomas talked about the multiple ways that an expansion of the multi-useful hemp cultivation industry could be economically advantageous.

“We also covered the utilization of hemp as crop for toxic land site remediation, to include increasing the economic support for minority hemp cultivators and licensed hemp processors through the 2023 Farm Bill.” Thomas said.

While statewide cannabis reform measures are undeniably worthwhile for many reasons, cannabis advocates should remember how farreaching federal pieces of cannabis legislation could be and should visit DC themselves to meet with their representatives on the federal level. As a longtime cannabis advocate, this is a sentiment that Thomas certainly agrees with and sees the overall usefulness of traveling to our nation’s capital in the name of large-scale cannabis reform that would positively impact the American people beyond just allowing them to legally smoke weed.

“To act as though we have a fair and safe justice system while we still have prisoners serving time for cannabis is enough said.” Thomas mentioned. “To act like special populations have fair social justice experiences while looking at the populations that have been disenfranchised and continuously left out of the very resources all Americans should have access to would be a lie. We are not unified and we are more divided now than ever, therefore we must have organizations and corporations that are willing to be the change and stand up and unify with the people by setting the example.”

On the state level, Thomas, Buffong and other M4MM advocates had a key meeting with Nevada Senator Jacky Rosen. On the Senate side of the United States Legislature, Rosen recently introduced the latest iteration of the SAFE Banking Act and Thomas previously organized a tour of Flower One’s for the office of Senator Rosen, so the synagogue president-turnedNevada senator has shown continuous support for cannabis reform on the federal level.

“The legal cannabis industry in Nevada has helped create jobs, boost our economy, and bring in hundreds of millions in tax revenue,” said Senator Rosen in a press release on her website. “These businesses still experience systemic challenges, including not being able to access banking services. I’m helping to reintroduce the bipartisan SAFE Banking Act to continue the fight to open up banking services for legal cannabis businesses and create more opportunities for these businesses to thrive.”

In total, the M4MM team visited an astonishing number of elected officials in a very short period of time. “Our team touched over 200 elected officials in 3 days and made enough impact for the Senate to reintroduce The Safe Banking Act the week after our lobbying days.” Buffong recounted. The M4MM team even met and took a photo with one of cannabis’ strongest supporters in the Senate, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, following a Judiciary Committee meeting conveniently being hosted on 420.

“All of these initiatives create restorative justice for the social economic impact that cannabis, marijuana or hemp can have on this country.” Thomas brought up. “This is reparations in a structured way to help aid our minorities and communities as a whole in restructuring our land, environment, water, economy with the necessary language for progressive lawmakers to ensure restorative social justice is implemented. population. The dissonance amongst our community comes from lack of understanding, experience, exposure and education. History is within the people, not in the data.”

The objective reality that cannabis bills are even being introduced in the United States Legislature shows how far the country has come in the discussion of cannabis reform. Yet, that reality also shows how ripe and malleable the many issues and future pieces of legislation surrounding cannabis reform are for activists to shape in the favor of their communities.

“That’s the disservice of so many voters that continuously state they are for justice, but they continue to vote for leaders that are limited in living experience, education and history. We must do the right thing for everyone, not our personal gain and our limited perspectives. Until we can do that as a country we will always need a M4MM to show up and lead the way.”