$3 Trillion Coronavirus Bill Shot Down For Using Word ‘Cannabis’

A coronavirus bill has stirred the pot of controversy this week after it was introduced into the United States Senate. The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act is a $3 trillion bill introduced by the Democrats. Although the bill will provide economic relief to Americans, it has caused outrage among Republicans. The controversy? The bill features the word ‘cannabis’ 68 times, while the word ‘job’ is only featured 52 times. Although medicinal cannabis is legal in many US states, The Bank Security Act (BSA) prevents banks from servicing legal cannabis businesses. Meaning they cannot provide cannabis businesses with loans or other banking facilities. The federal law also forces all cannabis businesses to operate in cash and prevents them from all government support provided to other small businesses. During the coronavirus lockdown, the BSA bill has had devastating consequences for medicinal cannabis businesses, as they have been excluded from all government aid, including the Small Business Administration relief program. While the HEROES bill won’t help medicinal cannabis businesses, it will prevent them from being targeted further during the coronavirus pandemic. Specifically, it prevents federal regulators from penalising banks that work with marijuana businesses. When tweeting about the bill, Texas Senator Jodey Arrington had this to say:

You know something is suspicious when the word “cannabis” is used 68 times - more than “job” or “jobs” combined - in an economic stimulus bill.

I’m not sure what they were smoking, but whatever socialist euphoria they‘re feeling will fade fast when it arrives in the Senate.

— Rep. Arrington (@RepArrington) May 13, 2020

Another Republican, Senator Bill Cassidy also found the bill suspicious, tweeting:

.@SpeakerPelosi's ridiculous spending bill is trying to use a crisis to advance a socialist agenda. States and local communities are hurting. Reasonable, targeted relief is needed. My bill achieves this.https://t.co/iD2t77DHYe

— U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (@SenBillCassidy) May 19, 2020

He also took to Facebook to share his views: However, it seems that Republicans are taking the bill out of context. As one commenter pointed out, the word "cannabis" does appear 68 times, and “job” only 52 times, but this is not a fair representation of the bill. The bill also uses the words “employ” 1062 times and “employment” 199 times. It just goes to show when you pick and choose which data you want to represent; you can spin the narrative whichever way you please. The Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced the bill last week, saying:

The bold new policy from Washington Democrats that will kick coronavirus to the curb and save American families from this crisis - here it is, here it is.

Although the bill is controversial, it will provide relief for a number of Americans. The bill includes $500 billion for state governments, another round of stimulus checks and a $200 billion fund to provide essential workers with hazard pay. As of this week, Covid-19 has passed 86,000 deaths in America, with 1.4 million total confirmed cases with and 36 million people filing for unemployment. When introducing the bill into the house of representatives, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stressed its importance.

Not to act now is only irresponsible in a humanitarian way, it is irresponsible because it’s only going to cost more. More in terms of lives, livelihood, cost to the budget, and cost to our democracy.

The bill is due to be voted on during the Senate hearing on the 22nd of May.