Schumer: Federal marijuana prohibition is ‘antiquated’

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and former NBA player Al Harrington, now CEO of cannabis producer Viola Brands, join Yahoo News National Reporter Marquise Francis to discuss the bipartisan effort to pass the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation Banking Act, or SAFER Banking Act, which would allow financial institutions to give out more small business loans while also providing legal protection for banks that work with marijuana retailers.

Video Transcript

MARQUISE FRANCIS: So, Senator Schumer, start off with you, you've long been adamant about ending federal prohibition on marijuana. And given states strides in at least two dozen states that have legalized it, including voters in Ohio, why do you think some legislators still aren't on board for this?

CHUCK SCHUMER: Well, you know what, I'd say, Marquise, they haven't caught up to the times. I mean, 15 years ago, before marijuana was legalized anywhere, people said, oh, there'll be a lot more crime. Oh, there'll be much more addiction, and this, and that. And guess what, none of that happened. State by state legalized. And the scare tactics of those who are opposed to legalizing marijuana, sort of didn't meet the facts in these states. But you still have a lot of legislators who are still back in that world.

They're worried their constituents, particularly the older ones, are back in that world. And so, they're reluctant to go forward, but we are making progress. The Safer Plus Banking Bill, which also includes expungement, which is so important, we're getting close. And we need your viewers to call their senators and say, vote for the Safer Banking Bill. It's bipartisan. It has support in the House. We could make it law soon if we get those three, four more votes.

MARQUISE FRANCIS: And now turning to you, right? 16 years in the NBA, 12 years in this marijuana business, and you're one of the biggest Black-owned business owners in an industry that's less than 2% Black. So from your perspective, how will this legislation actually help minority entrepreneurs achieve equity in this space, because that's what a lot of people really desire?

AL HARRINGTON: Because it'll give us the true opportunity, you know, to actually, you know take advantage of the equitable opportunity. You know, when I first got in the space, obviously, it was all about just changing the stigma first. It was just getting people to understand that cannabis was not this ugly monster that everybody portrayed it to be, right? So it was a beautiful situation or a moment where we're at with this plant.

But we do need some help from legislators and different things like that to move this thing forward, because there's been a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get us to this point, and it's really sad to see a lot of the legacy people fall by the wayside because of some of these barriers. You know, 85% of our drug arrests was in Black communities were cannabis related, you know. It's crazy. So we definitely have to have a seat at the table, and that's something I'm definitely fighting for every day.

CHUCK SCHUMER: Our bill tries to rectify some of these injustices, but so much was taken out of minority communities in terms of human resources and in terms of money and everything else when cannabis was over criminalized. So we put provisions in this bill that favor small minority businesses over the big ones.

MARQUISE FRANCIS: I'm curious, Senator. Do you see marijuana, it's going from this big monster to now more normalized. Do you see it being normalized as something almost like cigarettes?

CHUCK SCHUMER: Well, I don't know if it would be quite like that. I'm mean, I'm not an expert on those kind of things. But certainly, if it's decriminalized, people can make a decision to use it without worrying about the long arm of the law coming down on them, and that makes a great deal of sense. We do that for cigarettes, we do that for alcohol, we do that for lots of other things. It's just antiquated now that we don't do it for marijuana.

MARQUISE FRANCIS: And not to be all in your business, but to be in your business just a little bit, have you ever indulged yourself? Is this something that you partake in?

CHUCK SCHUMER: You know, I never have, because when I was in college, it was illegal. I didn't want to. But I believe in, you know-- I believe in it. I believe as strongly as anybody else. And I didn't make that choice, but anyone who wants to make that choice should, without the criminal law hanging over their heads.

MARQUISE FRANCIS: Then the first time you tried, I would make sure it's Viola, for sure.

[LAUGHTER]

CHUCK SCHUMER: I'll talk to you. Thank you so much. It's great to be here.

[MUSIC PLAYING]