$PLPL Recent Marijuana News From Washington, D.C., Pivotal to Plandai Biotechnology's Success in the Industry
NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 02/19/14 Plandaí Biotechnology (OTCQB: PLPL) executives are certainly in favor of what 18 legislators are trying to accomplish with their letter to President Obama asking him to reclassify marijuana. They're likely equally as elated with news from the Administration last Friday that paves the way for legal banking between legitimate marijuana businesses and U.S. banks.
Things are moving very fast in the marijuana debate, and with each news event, there appears to be a real acceptance of the drug's future in this country. Last week's announcements certainly favor Plandaí's future in an industry that continues to be shaped by events.
The guidance issued by the Justice and Treasury departments is the latest step by the federal government toward enabling a legalized marijuana industry to operate in states that approve it. The intent is to make banks feel more comfortable working with marijuana businesses that are licensed and regulated.
This guidance will directly affect Plandaí at some point in the future as it works with Diego Pellicer to brand its Phytofare? cannabis extracts. If successful, the letter sent to President Obama from 18 members of congress, will also directly affect Plandaí and its ability to use marijuana legally in its extracts and its research.
Legislators are asking Obama to use his authority to reclassify marijuana by removing it from the Schedule I category. Currently marijuana is viewed in the same category as heroin and LSD, and these 18 legislators say this status "makes no sense."
The letter read, "We request that you instruct Attorney General Holder to delist or classify marijuana in a more appropriate way, at the very least eliminating it from Schedule I or II." It went on to state: "Classifying marijuana as Schedule I at the federal level perpetuates an unjust and irrational system. Schedule I recognizes no medical use, disregarding both medical evidence and the laws of nearly half of the states that have legalized medical marijuana."
