Don Murphy On SAFE Banking At Capitol Hill
When speaking to hosts Shadd Dales and Anthony Varrell, cannabis lobbyist Don Murphy said, “We interviewed members on the street unencumbered. No staff, no entourage, no detail. Just by themselves, the big folks that we need to talk to. Our sponsors of SAFE. Our co-sponsors of SAFE. People who are leading the charge. … I think that was probably a big eye opener for you because you just can’t believe how quickly we got to people. You weren’t here 10 minutes and we literally talked to the senate sponsor of SAFE Banking.”
TDR’s Trade To Black podcast is on location this week in Washington, DC. The team is meeting with senators and members of congress to get the latest political action surrounding cannabis, the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation Banking Act (SAFE/SAFER), and potential rescheduling. Don Murphy, who has been keeping his fingers on the pulse of cannabis legislative maneuvers happening in Washington for years, leads the team through the halls to talk with many of the politicians.
The SAFER Banking act—introduced last September, and which addresses the failings of the previous version with two additional sections—is hotly expected to become law before the election this fall. Despite the traction forming on the issue, there are still many voices raised against it. We’ll share who we have talked with regarding the bill and what the general consensus appears to be.
“I think it’s important to share to our audience too,” says Don Murphy, that yes. We did speak to a lot of people that supported SAFE. We also had some key interviews with people that were not supportive of SAFE. … There’s no telling the kind of response you’re going to get from your friends versus your foes.”
Trade To Black will be sharing some of the interview clips we had in Washington DC this week in future episodes. Next week, we’ll be on location at Benzinga. Make sure to follow our socials for the latest.
