🕷️ Crawler Inspector

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1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 143 (from laksa112)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa143.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical, ml_categories_json AS ml_categories_json, ml_types_json AS ml_types_json, ml_intent_types_json AS ml_intent_types_json, meta_language AS meta_language, attrs_author AS attrs_author, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(attrs_publish_time), 0) AS attrs_publish_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(attrs_original_publish_time), 0) AS attrs_original_publish_time, ifNull(attrs_is_republished, 0) AS attrs_is_republished, ifNull(attrs_nr_words, 0) AS attrs_nr_words, ifNull(attrs_boilerpipe_nr_words, 0) AS attrs_boilerpipe_nr_words, ifNull(body_ext_links_number, 0) AS body_ext_links_number, ifNull(body_int_links_number, 0) AS body_int_links_number, ifNull(meta_nofollow, 0) AS meta_nofollow, ifNull(meta_noarchive, 0) AS meta_noarchive, ifNull(props_was_rendered, 0) AS props_was_rendered, ifNull(src_redirect, \'\') AS src_redirect, ifNull(download_time_msec, 0) AS download_time_msec, ifNull(download_ttfb_msec, 0) AS download_ttfb_msec, ifNull(download_size, 0) AS download_size FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2021/10/26/639136.htm\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2021/10/26/639136.htm\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/west\/2021\/10\/26\/639136.htm","crawl_time":1776957015,"first_indexed_time":1635290846,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,insurancejournal!www,\/news\/west\/2021\/10\/26\/639136.htm s443","src_root_hash":"7740706156215403143","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"Takeaways from Our Conversation on Federal Legalization","meta_descriptions":["It's part of just about every cannabis conversation: \"Hey, it looks like we're close to seeing cannabis legalized. Is this the year?\" There are three"],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"It’s part of just about every cannabis conversation: “Hey, it looks like we’re close to seeing cannabis legalized. Is this the year?”\nThere are three promising cannabis bills in Congress – two that would legalize or at least decriminalize cannabis, and one to create SAFE Banking. All three have strong support, but could they take a backseat in an essentially deadlocked government on first-in-line issues like infrastructure and spending?\nIn our latest Insuring Cannabis podcast, we spoke with Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, and Morgan Fox with the National Cannabis Industry Association, to see where these bills stand.\nFollowing are takeaways from that conversation.\nPaul Armentano\nMany Republicans embrace cannabis as a jobs-creating industry, and a large share of Democrats have been for pro legalization and decriminalization for years. So, what’s the hold up – beside the gridlock in Congress that is?\n“Well, my business card doesn’t say professional prognosticator, but what I can do is give you the lay of the land and let you know what we do know,” Armentano said. “We know that nearly two thirds to almost 70% of Americans when asked, say that they believe that marijuana should be legal. That includes a majority of Democrats, a majority of independents, and a majority of Republicans. So we know among voters that marijuana legalization is a bipartisan issue.”\nDespite the seeming agreement, cannabis legalization still remains largely a partisan issue, with most Democrats in support of marijuana law reforms, including the descheduling marijuana entirely, and with the overwhelming majority of Republicans advocating and voting against those reforms.\nMorgan Fox\n“I know there are some Republicans that give lip service to supporting marijuana policy changes, but if you look at their actions and if you look at their voting records, those speak a whole lot louder than their words,” Armentano said. “And right now, as a party, they are entrenched against virtually every type of marijuana policy reform legislation.”\nFox spoke about the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act.\n“We got a glimpse of the draft language, I guess, in late July,” Fox said. “And the drafters, primarily Senate Majority Leader Schumer, and Senators Booker and Wyden, have been very engaged with stakeholders and were asking for comment from a wide variety of interested parties. And they got a significant amount of it because while there are a lot of good things in that draft language, there were a lot of things that weren’t necessarily thought through well enough.”\nAmong the things not to like about CAOA, as many people refer to it, which starts at 10% and then it moves up to 25%, n top of state and local taxes.\nFox believes this tax structure will not only be a hard pill to swallow for the industry, it will make it difficult for cannabis businesses to survive, so that’s a point he hopes the bill authors are willing to move on.\nThe Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2021, or MORE Act, also removes marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act and it eliminates criminal penalties for an individual who manufactures, distributes, or possesses marijuana.\n“Well, I think it’s very possible that the House will vote on and approve the MORE Act this year, but it doesn’t look like any sort of comprehensive de-scheduling and regulation bill is going to be able to get through the Senate this year, just because of the politics at play,” Fox said. “Democrats want something that’s very robust and contains a very strong social and restorative justice provisions. Republicans are not on board with that, even the ones that are pretty staunch supporters of ending federal prohibition.”\nHe believes watering down the bill would be required to get the 10 Republican votes to pass a filibuster in the Senate, likely stripping away some very necessary Democrat.\n“So I think that at this point, we’re really just trying to feel out where lawmakers are and see where we can compromise in terms of bigger legislation,” he said.\nThen there’s the SAFE Banking Act – which prohibits federal banking regulators from penalizing banks for providing banking services to a legitimate cannabis-related business.\nWhile SAFE Banking is only an incremental step, it’s one that’s fully embraced by Armentano, who’s seen pretty much nothing but baby steps for cannabis over the years anyway.\n“We also support SAFE Banking,” he said. “We believe that it is very likely that these changes at the federal level will occur incrementally. We know that there is greater bipartisan support in both chambers for SAFE Banking. The House of Representatives has passed that language on five separate occasions now. There are now nearly 40 Senate sponsors of the bill. So nearly one half of the upper chamber is on record as a co-sponsor of that language.”\nHe believes that it is ultimately in the best interest businesses and cannabis consumers to allow the industry to have access to banking and other financial services that are now prohibited by federal law.\nPassage of SAFE Banking would also put Congress in an interesting spot in which Congress amends federal laws so that the cannabis industry has access to banking, but it maintains a federal policy to keep the substance illegal.\n“Those two policies would be entirely inconsistent,” Armentano said. “So for both practical reasons and symbolic reasons, we think passage of SAFE Banking is important.”","attrs_markdown":"[Skip to content](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/west\/2021\/10\/26\/639136.htm#main)\n\n- [MyNewMarkets.com](https:\/\/www.mynewmarkets.com\/)\n- [Claims Journal](https:\/\/www.claimsjournal.com\/)\n- [Insurance Journal TV](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.tv\/)\n- [Academy of Insurance](https:\/\/www.ijacademy.com\/)\n- [Carrier Management](https:\/\/www.carriermanagement.com\/)\n\n[![Insurance Journal - 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[Southeast](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/southeast\/)\n  - [West](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/west\/)\n- [Magazines](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/magazines\/)\n- [Research](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/research\/)\n- [Directories](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/directories\/)\n- [Jobs](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/jobs\/)\n- [Features](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/west\/2021\/10\/26\/639136.htm)\n  - [Events](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/events\/)\n  - [Forums](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/forums\/)\n  - [Market Directories](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/directories\/)\n  - [Quotes](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/quotes\/)\n  - [Polls](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/polls\/)\n  - [Rankings & Awards](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/rankings\/)\n  - [Insurance Giving Back](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/charity\/)\n- [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/subscribe\/)\n\n# Takeaways from Our Conversation on Federal Legalization\nBy [Don Jergler](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/author\/don-jergler\/ \"Posts by Don Jergler\") \\| October 26, 2021\n\n[Email This](<mailto:?subject=Takeaways from Our Conversation on Federal Legalization&body=Takeaways from Our Conversation on Federal Legalization%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.insurancejournal.com%2Fnews%2Fwest%2F2021%2F10%2F26%2F639136.htm>)    [Subscribe to Newsletter](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/subscribe\/)\n\n- [Article](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/west\/2021\/10\/26\/639136.htm)\n- [1 Comment](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/west\/2021\/10\/26\/639136.htm?comments)\n\nPowered by [InsuranceJournal.tv](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.tv\/)\n\nIt’s part of just about every cannabis conversation: “Hey, it looks like we’re close to seeing cannabis legalized. Is this the year?”\n\nThere are three promising cannabis bills in Congress – two that would legalize or at least decriminalize cannabis, and one to create SAFE Banking. All three have strong support, but could they take a backseat in an essentially deadlocked government on first-in-line issues like infrastructure and spending?\n\nIn our latest Insuring Cannabis podcast, we spoke with Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, and Morgan Fox with the National Cannabis Industry Association, to see where these bills stand.\n\nFollowing are takeaways from that conversation.\n\n[![](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Armentano_Paul-150x150.jpeg)](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Armentano_Paul.jpeg)\n\nPaul Armentano\n\nMany Republicans embrace cannabis as a jobs-creating industry, and a large share of Democrats have been for pro legalization and decriminalization for years. So, what’s the hold up – beside the gridlock in Congress that is?\n\n“Well, my business card doesn’t say professional prognosticator, but what I can do is give you the lay of the land and let you know what we do know,” Armentano said. “We know that nearly two thirds to almost 70% of Americans when asked, say that they believe that marijuana should be legal. That includes a majority of Democrats, a majority of independents, and a majority of Republicans. So we know among voters that marijuana legalization is a bipartisan issue.”\n\nDespite the seeming agreement, cannabis legalization still remains largely a partisan issue, with most Democrats in support of marijuana law reforms, including the descheduling marijuana entirely, and with the overwhelming majority of Republicans advocating and voting against those reforms.\n\n[![](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Fox_Morgan-150x150.jpg)](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Fox_Morgan-scaled.jpg)\n\nMorgan Fox\n\n“I know there are some Republicans that give lip service to supporting marijuana policy changes, but if you look at their actions and if you look at their voting records, those speak a whole lot louder than their words,” Armentano said. “And right now, as a party, they are entrenched against virtually every type of marijuana policy reform legislation.”\n\nFox spoke about the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act.\n\n“We got a glimpse of the draft language, I guess, in late July,” Fox said. “And the drafters, primarily Senate Majority Leader Schumer, and Senators Booker and Wyden, have been very engaged with stakeholders and were asking for comment from a wide variety of interested parties. And they got a significant amount of it because while there are a lot of good things in that draft language, there were a lot of things that weren’t necessarily thought through well enough.”\n\n**Other cannabis resources**  [All the Insuring Cannabis episodes in one place](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.tv\/channels\/insuringcannabis\/)  [Sign up for Insurance Journal’s free Insuring Cannabis Newsletter](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/subscribe\/cannabis?utm_content=cannabis-cultivators-face-another-severe-wildfire-season&utm_campaign=insuring-cannabis&utm_source=insurancejournal&utm_medium=newsletter) [2021 Guide to Cannabis Markets](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/research\/research\/2021-guide-to-cannabis-markets\/) [Trending news on insurance and cannabis](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/cannabis\/)\n\nAmong the things not to like about CAOA, as many people refer to it, which starts at 10% and then it moves up to 25%, n top of state and local taxes.\n\nFox believes this tax structure will not only be a hard pill to swallow for the industry, it will make it difficult for cannabis businesses to survive, so that’s a point he hopes the bill authors are willing to move on.\n\nThe Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2021, or MORE Act, also removes marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act and it eliminates criminal penalties for an individual who manufactures, distributes, or possesses marijuana.\n\n“Well, I think it’s very possible that the House will vote on and approve the MORE Act this year, but it doesn’t look like any sort of comprehensive de-scheduling and regulation bill is going to be able to get through the Senate this year, just because of the politics at play,” Fox said. “Democrats want something that’s very robust and contains a very strong social and restorative justice provisions. Republicans are not on board with that, even the ones that are pretty staunch supporters of ending federal prohibition.”\n\nHe believes watering down the bill would be required to get the 10 Republican votes to pass a filibuster in the Senate, likely stripping away some very necessary Democrat.\n\n“So I think that at this point, we’re really just trying to feel out where lawmakers are and see where we can compromise in terms of bigger legislation,” he said.\n\nThen there’s the SAFE Banking Act – which prohibits federal banking regulators from penalizing banks for providing banking services to a legitimate cannabis-related business.\n\nWhile SAFE Banking is only an incremental step, it’s one that’s fully embraced by Armentano, who’s seen pretty much nothing but baby steps for cannabis over the years anyway.\n\n“We also support SAFE Banking,” he said. “We believe that it is very likely that these changes at the federal level will occur incrementally. We know that there is greater bipartisan support in both chambers for SAFE Banking. The House of Representatives has passed that language on five separate occasions now. There are now nearly 40 Senate sponsors of the bill. So nearly one half of the upper chamber is on record as a co-sponsor of that language.”\n\nHe believes that it is ultimately in the best interest businesses and cannabis consumers to allow the industry to have access to banking and other financial services that are now prohibited by federal law.\n\nPassage of SAFE Banking would also put Congress in an interesting spot in which Congress amends federal laws so that the cannabis industry has access to banking, but it maintains a federal policy to keep the substance illegal.\n\n“Those two policies would be entirely inconsistent,” Armentano said. “So for both practical reasons and symbolic reasons, we think passage of SAFE Banking is important.”\n\nWas this article valuable?\n\nYes\n\nNo\n\nHere are more articles you may enjoy.\n\n[![](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2011\/11\/us-and-japanes-trade-150x150.jpg)Viewpoint: Japan’s \\$550B Bet on America—What it Means for the US Insurance Market](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/national\/2026\/04\/17\/866310.htm)\n\n[![Electric scooter crashed on the road](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2024\/05\/new-jersey-e-scooter-150x150.jpg)Nationwide: Consumers Say Insurance Should Evolve for Micromobility Vehicles](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/national\/2026\/04\/17\/866306.htm)\n\n[![](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Penn-fatal-fire-2026-AP-Photo-150x150.jpg)Amish Mother and 6 Children Killed in Explosion and Fire at Pennsylvania Home](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/east\/2026\/04\/21\/866779.htm)\n\n[![](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Fanjul-brothers-Bloomberg-150x150.jpg)Palm Beach Billionaires Feud Over Who’s Really Protecting the Everglades](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/southeast\/2026\/04\/20\/866581.htm)\n\n#### Written By Don Jergler\n##### Latest Posts:\n- [Hail a Growing Loss Driver on Rising Tide of Severe Convective Storms, Allianz Says](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/national\/2026\/04\/02\/864394.htm)\n- [Carriers Using AI for Claims but Adoption Is Fragmented, Report Shows](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/magazines\/mag-features\/2026\/03\/23\/862425.htm)\n- [Nine Claims Trends to Watch Through the Rest of 2026](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/national\/2026\/03\/13\/861869.htm)\n- [Carriers Using AI for Claims but Adoption Is Fragmented, Report Shows](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/national\/2026\/03\/10\/861186.htm)\n\n[More From Author](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/author\/don-jergler\/)\n\n#### The most important insurance news, in your inbox every business day.\nGet the insurance industry's trusted newsletter\n\n[Email This](<mailto:?subject=Takeaways from Our Conversation on Federal Legalization&body=Takeaways from Our Conversation on Federal Legalization%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.insurancejournal.com%2Fnews%2Fwest%2F2021%2F10%2F26%2F639136.htm>)    [Subscribe to Newsletter](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/subscribe\/)\n\n- **Categories:** [West News](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/west\/)**Topics:** [Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/topics\/cannabis-administration-and-opportunity-act\/), [Insuring cannabis](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/topics\/insuring-cannabis\/), [National Cannabis Industry Association](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/topics\/national-cannabis-industry-association\/), [NORML](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/topics\/norml\/)\n- *Have a hot lead? Email us at [newsdesk@insurancejournal.com](mailto:newsdesk@insurancejournal.com)*\n\n#### Latest Comments\n- October 27, 2021 at 9:39 am\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/165d4f8cca44f3c3fd2e1837a0b4a6cbac4b91c5a52923baff8d4b31d35e4239?s=40&d=mm&r=g)\n  \n  Brian Kelly\n  \n  says:\n  \n  Cannabis consumers deserve and demand equal rights and protections under our laws that are currently afforded to the drinkers of far more dangerous and deadly, yet perfectly l... [read more](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/west\/2021\/10\/26\/639136.htm?comments#comment-5499626)\n### [Add a Comment]()[See All Comments (1)](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/west\/2021\/10\/26\/639136.htm?comments)Add a Comment [Cancel reply](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/west\/2021\/10\/26\/639136.htm#respond)\nMore News\n\n[![](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/04\/NJ-Flood-NJ-Monitor-ohoto-150x150.jpg)New Jersey Lawmakers Weigh Future of New Flood Rules](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/east\/2026\/04\/23\/867027.htm)\n\n[![](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Nitric-acid-Adobe-150x150.jpeg)West Virginia Chemical Facility Reaction Kills 2, Injures 20](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/southeast\/2026\/04\/23\/867011.htm)\n\n[![](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/04\/stargate-AI-data-center-in-abilene-texas-bloomberg-150x150.jpg)Ex-Credit Suisse Team Plans \\$1 Billion Fund for Data Center Insurance Risk](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/international\/2026\/04\/23\/867007.htm)\n\n[![](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/04\/pricewaterhousecoopers-center-in-shanghai-2-bloomberg-150x150.jpg)PwC Pays \\$166 Million to Settle HK Evergrande Audit Probe](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/international\/2026\/04\/23\/867002.htm)\n\n[More News Features](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/featured\/)\n\n### Read This Next\n- [Takeaways from Our Conversation on Federal Legalization](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/west\/2021\/10\/26\/639136.htm)\n- [How Niche Insurance Shielded Bad Bunny From Bad Weather](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/international\/2026\/04\/20\/866538.htm)\n- [AI for the Defense: Should Insurers or Law Firms Pay?](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/national\/2026\/04\/20\/866466.htm)\n- [Convicted Insurance Mogul Lindberg Should Pay \\$1.6B Restitution to Companies](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/southeast\/2026\/04\/08\/864913.htm)\n- [California Utility Bills Are 20% Higher Due to Wildfires](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/west\/2026\/04\/13\/865378.htm)\n\n[See Today's Top Insurance News](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/)\n\n### Insurance Jobs\n- [Property & Casualty Producer – Independent Agency – no MLM - Lebanon, Oh](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/jobs\/865783-property-casualty-producer-independent-agency-no-mlm)\n- [Middle Market Underwriter \/ Account Executive- Commercial Accounts - Chantilly, VA](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/jobs\/865111-middle-market-underwriter-account-executive-commercial-accounts)\n- [Lead Digital Product Manager – Cybersecurity - Remote, IL](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/jobs\/866116-lead-digital-product-manager-cybersecurity)\n- [Property Adjuster – Field Estimating – El Paso, TX - Remote?, IL](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/jobs\/864517-property-adjuster-field-estimating-el-paso-tx)\n- [Counsel – Workers Compensation - Chantilly, VA](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/jobs\/865314-counsel-workers-compensation)\n\n![MyNewMarkets](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/img\/blocks\/mynewmarkets-logo-220x38.png)\n\n- [5 Ways for Insurance Brokers to Avoid Liability to Clients](https:\/\/www.mynewmarkets.com\/articles\/184713\/5-ways-for-insurance-brokers-to-avoid-liability-to-clients)\n- [Is It Covered?: The Additional Insured Illusion](https:\/\/www.mynewmarkets.com\/articles\/184709\/is-it-covered-the-additional-insured-illusion)\n- [Restaurants & Bars: Liquor Sales, Risk Transfer & Other Trends](https:\/\/www.mynewmarkets.com\/articles\/184706\/restaurants-bars-liquor-sales-risk-transfer-other-trends)\n- [How Parametric Coverage Can Close the Gap for Small Business](https:\/\/www.mynewmarkets.com\/articles\/184692\/how-parametric-coverage-can-close-the-gap-for-small-business)\n- [Resilience: Cyber Risk Shifts From Disruption to Long-Tail Losses](https:\/\/www.mynewmarkets.com\/articles\/184685\/resilience-cyber-risk-shifts-from-disruption-to-long-tail-losses)\n\n![Claims Journal](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/img\/blocks\/claimsjournal-logo-220x38.png)\n\n- [PwC Pays \\$166 Million to Settle HK Evergrande Audit Probe](https:\/\/www.claimsjournal.com\/news\/national\/2026\/04\/23\/337111.htm)\n- [How do you know if the Fire Alarm System was Properly Inspected, Tested, and Maintained?](https:\/\/www.claimsjournal.com\/sponsored\/ids-research-development\/2026\/04\/23\/337093.htm)\n- [Workers' Compensation AI: The Right Technology Doesn't Just Make Claims Professionals Faster. 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[Privacy Policy](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/privacy\/) \\| [Terms & Conditions](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/terms\/) \\| [Site Map](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/sitemap\/)","attrs_readable_markdown":"It’s part of just about every cannabis conversation: “Hey, it looks like we’re close to seeing cannabis legalized. Is this the year?”\n\nThere are three promising cannabis bills in Congress – two that would legalize or at least decriminalize cannabis, and one to create SAFE Banking. All three have strong support, but could they take a backseat in an essentially deadlocked government on first-in-line issues like infrastructure and spending?\n\nIn our latest Insuring Cannabis podcast, we spoke with Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, and Morgan Fox with the National Cannabis Industry Association, to see where these bills stand.\n\nFollowing are takeaways from that conversation.\n\n[![](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Armentano_Paul-150x150.jpeg)](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Armentano_Paul.jpeg)\n\nPaul Armentano\n\nMany Republicans embrace cannabis as a jobs-creating industry, and a large share of Democrats have been for pro legalization and decriminalization for years. So, what’s the hold up – beside the gridlock in Congress that is?\n\n“Well, my business card doesn’t say professional prognosticator, but what I can do is give you the lay of the land and let you know what we do know,” Armentano said. “We know that nearly two thirds to almost 70% of Americans when asked, say that they believe that marijuana should be legal. That includes a majority of Democrats, a majority of independents, and a majority of Republicans. So we know among voters that marijuana legalization is a bipartisan issue.”\n\nDespite the seeming agreement, cannabis legalization still remains largely a partisan issue, with most Democrats in support of marijuana law reforms, including the descheduling marijuana entirely, and with the overwhelming majority of Republicans advocating and voting against those reforms.\n\n[![](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Fox_Morgan-150x150.jpg)](https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Fox_Morgan-scaled.jpg)\n\nMorgan Fox\n\n“I know there are some Republicans that give lip service to supporting marijuana policy changes, but if you look at their actions and if you look at their voting records, those speak a whole lot louder than their words,” Armentano said. “And right now, as a party, they are entrenched against virtually every type of marijuana policy reform legislation.”\n\nFox spoke about the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act.\n\n“We got a glimpse of the draft language, I guess, in late July,” Fox said. “And the drafters, primarily Senate Majority Leader Schumer, and Senators Booker and Wyden, have been very engaged with stakeholders and were asking for comment from a wide variety of interested parties. And they got a significant amount of it because while there are a lot of good things in that draft language, there were a lot of things that weren’t necessarily thought through well enough.”\n\nAmong the things not to like about CAOA, as many people refer to it, which starts at 10% and then it moves up to 25%, n top of state and local taxes.\n\nFox believes this tax structure will not only be a hard pill to swallow for the industry, it will make it difficult for cannabis businesses to survive, so that’s a point he hopes the bill authors are willing to move on.\n\nThe Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2021, or MORE Act, also removes marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act and it eliminates criminal penalties for an individual who manufactures, distributes, or possesses marijuana.\n\n“Well, I think it’s very possible that the House will vote on and approve the MORE Act this year, but it doesn’t look like any sort of comprehensive de-scheduling and regulation bill is going to be able to get through the Senate this year, just because of the politics at play,” Fox said. “Democrats want something that’s very robust and contains a very strong social and restorative justice provisions. Republicans are not on board with that, even the ones that are pretty staunch supporters of ending federal prohibition.”\n\nHe believes watering down the bill would be required to get the 10 Republican votes to pass a filibuster in the Senate, likely stripping away some very necessary Democrat.\n\n“So I think that at this point, we’re really just trying to feel out where lawmakers are and see where we can compromise in terms of bigger legislation,” he said.\n\nThen there’s the SAFE Banking Act – which prohibits federal banking regulators from penalizing banks for providing banking services to a legitimate cannabis-related business.\n\nWhile SAFE Banking is only an incremental step, it’s one that’s fully embraced by Armentano, who’s seen pretty much nothing but baby steps for cannabis over the years anyway.\n\n“We also support SAFE Banking,” he said. “We believe that it is very likely that these changes at the federal level will occur incrementally. We know that there is greater bipartisan support in both chambers for SAFE Banking. The House of Representatives has passed that language on five separate occasions now. There are now nearly 40 Senate sponsors of the bill. So nearly one half of the upper chamber is on record as a co-sponsor of that language.”\n\nHe believes that it is ultimately in the best interest businesses and cannabis consumers to allow the industry to have access to banking and other financial services that are now prohibited by federal law.\n\nPassage of SAFE Banking would also put Congress in an interesting spot in which Congress amends federal laws so that the cannabis industry has access to banking, but it maintains a federal policy to keep the substance illegal.\n\n“Those two policies would be entirely inconsistent,” Armentano said. “So for both practical reasons and symbolic reasons, we think passage of SAFE Banking is important.”","meta_canonical":null,"ml_categories_json":"{\"\/Law_and_Government\":954,\"\/Law_and_Government\/Legal\":920,\"\/Law_and_Government\/Legal\/Constitutional_Law_and_Civil_Rights\":489,\"\/Health\":253,\"\/Health\/Substance_Abuse\":135,\"\/People_and_Society\":112,\"\/People_and_Society\/Social_Issues_and_Advocacy\":110,\"\/People_and_Society\/Social_Issues_and_Advocacy\/Drug_Laws_and_Policy\":101}","ml_types_json":"{\"\/Article\":826,\"\/Article\/Opinion_Piece\":472}","ml_intent_types_json":"{\"Informational\":999}","meta_language":"en-us","attrs_author":"Don Jergler","attrs_publish_time":1635290306,"attrs_original_publish_time":1635290306,"attrs_is_republished":0,"attrs_nr_words":"1712","attrs_boilerpipe_nr_words":"900","body_ext_links_number":25,"body_int_links_number":89,"meta_nofollow":0,"meta_noarchive":0,"props_was_rendered":1,"src_redirect":"","download_time_msec":441,"download_ttfb_msec":441,"download_size":20383}

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Takeaways from Our Conversation on Federal Legalization

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It's part of just about every cannabis conversation: "Hey, it looks like we're close to seeing cannabis legalized. Is this the year?" There are three

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It’s part of just about every cannabis conversation: “Hey, it looks like we’re close to seeing cannabis legalized. Is this the year?” There are three promising cannabis bills in Congress – two that would legalize or at least decriminalize cannabis, and one to create SAFE Banking. All three have strong support, but could they take a backseat in an essentially deadlocked government on first-in-line issues like infrastructure and spending? In our latest Insuring Cannabis podcast, we spoke with Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, and Morgan Fox with the National Cannabis Industry Association, to see where these bills stand. Following are takeaways from that conversation. Paul Armentano Many Republicans embrace cannabis as a jobs-creating industry, and a large share of Democrats have been for pro legalization and decriminalization for years. So, what’s the hold up – beside the gridlock in Congress that is? “Well, my business card doesn’t say professional prognosticator, but what I can do is give you the lay of the land and let you know what we do know,” Armentano said. “We know that nearly two thirds to almost 70% of Americans when asked, say that they believe that marijuana should be legal. That includes a majority of Democrats, a majority of independents, and a majority of Republicans. So we know among voters that marijuana legalization is a bipartisan issue.” Despite the seeming agreement, cannabis legalization still remains largely a partisan issue, with most Democrats in support of marijuana law reforms, including the descheduling marijuana entirely, and with the overwhelming majority of Republicans advocating and voting against those reforms. Morgan Fox “I know there are some Republicans that give lip service to supporting marijuana policy changes, but if you look at their actions and if you look at their voting records, those speak a whole lot louder than their words,” Armentano said. “And right now, as a party, they are entrenched against virtually every type of marijuana policy reform legislation.” Fox spoke about the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act. “We got a glimpse of the draft language, I guess, in late July,” Fox said. “And the drafters, primarily Senate Majority Leader Schumer, and Senators Booker and Wyden, have been very engaged with stakeholders and were asking for comment from a wide variety of interested parties. And they got a significant amount of it because while there are a lot of good things in that draft language, there were a lot of things that weren’t necessarily thought through well enough.” Among the things not to like about CAOA, as many people refer to it, which starts at 10% and then it moves up to 25%, n top of state and local taxes. Fox believes this tax structure will not only be a hard pill to swallow for the industry, it will make it difficult for cannabis businesses to survive, so that’s a point he hopes the bill authors are willing to move on. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2021, or MORE Act, also removes marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act and it eliminates criminal penalties for an individual who manufactures, distributes, or possesses marijuana. “Well, I think it’s very possible that the House will vote on and approve the MORE Act this year, but it doesn’t look like any sort of comprehensive de-scheduling and regulation bill is going to be able to get through the Senate this year, just because of the politics at play,” Fox said. “Democrats want something that’s very robust and contains a very strong social and restorative justice provisions. Republicans are not on board with that, even the ones that are pretty staunch supporters of ending federal prohibition.” He believes watering down the bill would be required to get the 10 Republican votes to pass a filibuster in the Senate, likely stripping away some very necessary Democrat. “So I think that at this point, we’re really just trying to feel out where lawmakers are and see where we can compromise in terms of bigger legislation,” he said. Then there’s the SAFE Banking Act – which prohibits federal banking regulators from penalizing banks for providing banking services to a legitimate cannabis-related business. While SAFE Banking is only an incremental step, it’s one that’s fully embraced by Armentano, who’s seen pretty much nothing but baby steps for cannabis over the years anyway. “We also support SAFE Banking,” he said. “We believe that it is very likely that these changes at the federal level will occur incrementally. We know that there is greater bipartisan support in both chambers for SAFE Banking. The House of Representatives has passed that language on five separate occasions now. There are now nearly 40 Senate sponsors of the bill. So nearly one half of the upper chamber is on record as a co-sponsor of that language.” He believes that it is ultimately in the best interest businesses and cannabis consumers to allow the industry to have access to banking and other financial services that are now prohibited by federal law. Passage of SAFE Banking would also put Congress in an interesting spot in which Congress amends federal laws so that the cannabis industry has access to banking, but it maintains a federal policy to keep the substance illegal. “Those two policies would be entirely inconsistent,” Armentano said. “So for both practical reasons and symbolic reasons, we think passage of SAFE Banking is important.”

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Is this the year?” There are three promising cannabis bills in Congress – two that would legalize or at least decriminalize cannabis, and one to create SAFE Banking. All three have strong support, but could they take a backseat in an essentially deadlocked government on first-in-line issues like infrastructure and spending? In our latest Insuring Cannabis podcast, we spoke with Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, and Morgan Fox with the National Cannabis Industry Association, to see where these bills stand. Following are takeaways from that conversation. [![](https://www.insurancejournal.com/app/uploads/2021/10/Armentano_Paul-150x150.jpeg)](https://www.insurancejournal.com/app/uploads/2021/10/Armentano_Paul.jpeg) Paul Armentano Many Republicans embrace cannabis as a jobs-creating industry, and a large share of Democrats have been for pro legalization and decriminalization for years. So, what’s the hold up – beside the gridlock in Congress that is? “Well, my business card doesn’t say professional prognosticator, but what I can do is give you the lay of the land and let you know what we do know,” Armentano said. “We know that nearly two thirds to almost 70% of Americans when asked, say that they believe that marijuana should be legal. That includes a majority of Democrats, a majority of independents, and a majority of Republicans. So we know among voters that marijuana legalization is a bipartisan issue.” Despite the seeming agreement, cannabis legalization still remains largely a partisan issue, with most Democrats in support of marijuana law reforms, including the descheduling marijuana entirely, and with the overwhelming majority of Republicans advocating and voting against those reforms. [![](https://www.insurancejournal.com/app/uploads/2020/11/Fox_Morgan-150x150.jpg)](https://www.insurancejournal.com/app/uploads/2020/11/Fox_Morgan-scaled.jpg) Morgan Fox “I know there are some Republicans that give lip service to supporting marijuana policy changes, but if you look at their actions and if you look at their voting records, those speak a whole lot louder than their words,” Armentano said. “And right now, as a party, they are entrenched against virtually every type of marijuana policy reform legislation.” Fox spoke about the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act. “We got a glimpse of the draft language, I guess, in late July,” Fox said. “And the drafters, primarily Senate Majority Leader Schumer, and Senators Booker and Wyden, have been very engaged with stakeholders and were asking for comment from a wide variety of interested parties. And they got a significant amount of it because while there are a lot of good things in that draft language, there were a lot of things that weren’t necessarily thought through well enough.” **Other cannabis resources** [All the Insuring Cannabis episodes in one place](https://www.insurancejournal.tv/channels/insuringcannabis/) [Sign up for Insurance Journal’s free Insuring Cannabis Newsletter](https://www.insurancejournal.com/subscribe/cannabis?utm_content=cannabis-cultivators-face-another-severe-wildfire-season&utm_campaign=insuring-cannabis&utm_source=insurancejournal&utm_medium=newsletter) [2021 Guide to Cannabis Markets](https://www.insurancejournal.com/research/research/2021-guide-to-cannabis-markets/) [Trending news on insurance and cannabis](https://www.insurancejournal.com/cannabis/) Among the things not to like about CAOA, as many people refer to it, which starts at 10% and then it moves up to 25%, n top of state and local taxes. Fox believes this tax structure will not only be a hard pill to swallow for the industry, it will make it difficult for cannabis businesses to survive, so that’s a point he hopes the bill authors are willing to move on. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2021, or MORE Act, also removes marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act and it eliminates criminal penalties for an individual who manufactures, distributes, or possesses marijuana. “Well, I think it’s very possible that the House will vote on and approve the MORE Act this year, but it doesn’t look like any sort of comprehensive de-scheduling and regulation bill is going to be able to get through the Senate this year, just because of the politics at play,” Fox said. “Democrats want something that’s very robust and contains a very strong social and restorative justice provisions. Republicans are not on board with that, even the ones that are pretty staunch supporters of ending federal prohibition.” He believes watering down the bill would be required to get the 10 Republican votes to pass a filibuster in the Senate, likely stripping away some very necessary Democrat. “So I think that at this point, we’re really just trying to feel out where lawmakers are and see where we can compromise in terms of bigger legislation,” he said. Then there’s the SAFE Banking Act – which prohibits federal banking regulators from penalizing banks for providing banking services to a legitimate cannabis-related business. While SAFE Banking is only an incremental step, it’s one that’s fully embraced by Armentano, who’s seen pretty much nothing but baby steps for cannabis over the years anyway. “We also support SAFE Banking,” he said. “We believe that it is very likely that these changes at the federal level will occur incrementally. We know that there is greater bipartisan support in both chambers for SAFE Banking. The House of Representatives has passed that language on five separate occasions now. There are now nearly 40 Senate sponsors of the bill. So nearly one half of the upper chamber is on record as a co-sponsor of that language.” He believes that it is ultimately in the best interest businesses and cannabis consumers to allow the industry to have access to banking and other financial services that are now prohibited by federal law. Passage of SAFE Banking would also put Congress in an interesting spot in which Congress amends federal laws so that the cannabis industry has access to banking, but it maintains a federal policy to keep the substance illegal. “Those two policies would be entirely inconsistent,” Armentano said. “So for both practical reasons and symbolic reasons, we think passage of SAFE Banking is important.” Was this article valuable? Yes No Here are more articles you may enjoy. 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Readable Markdown

It’s part of just about every cannabis conversation: “Hey, it looks like we’re close to seeing cannabis legalized. Is this the year?” There are three promising cannabis bills in Congress – two that would legalize or at least decriminalize cannabis, and one to create SAFE Banking. All three have strong support, but could they take a backseat in an essentially deadlocked government on first-in-line issues like infrastructure and spending? In our latest Insuring Cannabis podcast, we spoke with Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, and Morgan Fox with the National Cannabis Industry Association, to see where these bills stand. Following are takeaways from that conversation. [![](https://www.insurancejournal.com/app/uploads/2021/10/Armentano_Paul-150x150.jpeg)](https://www.insurancejournal.com/app/uploads/2021/10/Armentano_Paul.jpeg) Paul Armentano Many Republicans embrace cannabis as a jobs-creating industry, and a large share of Democrats have been for pro legalization and decriminalization for years. So, what’s the hold up – beside the gridlock in Congress that is? “Well, my business card doesn’t say professional prognosticator, but what I can do is give you the lay of the land and let you know what we do know,” Armentano said. “We know that nearly two thirds to almost 70% of Americans when asked, say that they believe that marijuana should be legal. That includes a majority of Democrats, a majority of independents, and a majority of Republicans. So we know among voters that marijuana legalization is a bipartisan issue.” Despite the seeming agreement, cannabis legalization still remains largely a partisan issue, with most Democrats in support of marijuana law reforms, including the descheduling marijuana entirely, and with the overwhelming majority of Republicans advocating and voting against those reforms. [![](https://www.insurancejournal.com/app/uploads/2020/11/Fox_Morgan-150x150.jpg)](https://www.insurancejournal.com/app/uploads/2020/11/Fox_Morgan-scaled.jpg) Morgan Fox “I know there are some Republicans that give lip service to supporting marijuana policy changes, but if you look at their actions and if you look at their voting records, those speak a whole lot louder than their words,” Armentano said. “And right now, as a party, they are entrenched against virtually every type of marijuana policy reform legislation.” Fox spoke about the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act. “We got a glimpse of the draft language, I guess, in late July,” Fox said. “And the drafters, primarily Senate Majority Leader Schumer, and Senators Booker and Wyden, have been very engaged with stakeholders and were asking for comment from a wide variety of interested parties. And they got a significant amount of it because while there are a lot of good things in that draft language, there were a lot of things that weren’t necessarily thought through well enough.” Among the things not to like about CAOA, as many people refer to it, which starts at 10% and then it moves up to 25%, n top of state and local taxes. Fox believes this tax structure will not only be a hard pill to swallow for the industry, it will make it difficult for cannabis businesses to survive, so that’s a point he hopes the bill authors are willing to move on. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2021, or MORE Act, also removes marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act and it eliminates criminal penalties for an individual who manufactures, distributes, or possesses marijuana. “Well, I think it’s very possible that the House will vote on and approve the MORE Act this year, but it doesn’t look like any sort of comprehensive de-scheduling and regulation bill is going to be able to get through the Senate this year, just because of the politics at play,” Fox said. “Democrats want something that’s very robust and contains a very strong social and restorative justice provisions. Republicans are not on board with that, even the ones that are pretty staunch supporters of ending federal prohibition.” He believes watering down the bill would be required to get the 10 Republican votes to pass a filibuster in the Senate, likely stripping away some very necessary Democrat. “So I think that at this point, we’re really just trying to feel out where lawmakers are and see where we can compromise in terms of bigger legislation,” he said. Then there’s the SAFE Banking Act – which prohibits federal banking regulators from penalizing banks for providing banking services to a legitimate cannabis-related business. While SAFE Banking is only an incremental step, it’s one that’s fully embraced by Armentano, who’s seen pretty much nothing but baby steps for cannabis over the years anyway. “We also support SAFE Banking,” he said. “We believe that it is very likely that these changes at the federal level will occur incrementally. We know that there is greater bipartisan support in both chambers for SAFE Banking. The House of Representatives has passed that language on five separate occasions now. There are now nearly 40 Senate sponsors of the bill. So nearly one half of the upper chamber is on record as a co-sponsor of that language.” He believes that it is ultimately in the best interest businesses and cannabis consumers to allow the industry to have access to banking and other financial services that are now prohibited by federal law. Passage of SAFE Banking would also put Congress in an interesting spot in which Congress amends federal laws so that the cannabis industry has access to banking, but it maintains a federal policy to keep the substance illegal. “Those two policies would be entirely inconsistent,” Armentano said. “So for both practical reasons and symbolic reasons, we think passage of SAFE Banking is important.”

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