Rep. Dana Rohrabacher And Rob Sechrist Talk SAFE Banking

In today’s Trade to Black podcast, we are asking the question: Why does the SAFE Banking approval keep getting delayed? Here to talk with host Shadd Dales about the way Capitol Hill works – and the future of SAFE Banking – is Pelorus President and Co-Manager Rob Sechrist and Dana Rohrabacher, former House of Commons representative.

Rohrabacher is a good friend of Rob Sechrist and one of the reasons Sechrist joined the cannabis space. The Rohrabacher–Blumenauer amendment, which finally became law in 2014, was initially brought to Capitol Hill to be voted upon by U.S. Reps. Maurice Hinchey and Dana Rohrabacher back in 2003. This amendment proposed to prohibit the Justice Department from spending any funds with the intent to interfere with state medical cannabis laws and their implementation.

Find out how Rohrabacher, the child of farmers from North Dakota, found his way into politics – and more importantly, how he got into cannabis. He provides some unique insights into the workings of politicians and policy, based on over a decade of trying to get the Rohrabacher–Blumenauer amendment passed into law. What does it actually take to accomplish a political mission in Congress? Why do the people not have the power to simply get a quality-of-life product like medicinal marijuana passed? You’ll find out that there’s more to the process than just paying off the congressman. Perhaps Americans in favor of progressive cannabis legislation have failed to mobilize the wrong force.

So why is SAFE Banking continually stalling out, and what will it take to get the legislation passed? There seems to be a lot of parallels between SAFE and an amendment like Rohrabacher–Blumenauer. Is it even possible that we can still have it passed in Congress, and is the cannabis industry heading in the right direction? One thing seems certain: Congress should meet their people.

Hear the discussion on this episode.