Who?
Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) — Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee
Bonus listen!
Ask a Pol’s Matt Laslo spoke with Sen. Reed twice on marijuana policy. Scroll down to listen to both interviews and keep scrolling if you want to read the two Reed transcripts.
LISTEN: Laslo & Reed I
Ask a Pol asks (Interview I):
Where are you on SAFER Banking Act — do you still want changes to that?
Key Reed (Interview I):
“I think we want it, but we don't want them to obstruct regulators in non-legal stuff,” Sen. Jack Reed exclusively told Ask a Pol.
DEA rescheduling?
What do you think about the DEA — Drug Enforcement Administration — moving to reschedule marijuana?
“You know, again, it's so prevalent — it's legal in my state's sales. “That the conflict between a Schedule I and commercial sales probably has to be corrected.”
LISTEN: Laslo & Reed II
Ask a Pol asks (Interview II):
Follo-up from last time we asked — are you supportive of the SAFER Banking Act?
Key Reed (Interview II):
“Well, we had a bipartisan amendment in committee which satisfied my concerns,” Reed told us. “The question is whether they’re gonna take it out.”
ICYMI — Ask a Pol asks all 100 US senators about SAFER
Below find two rough transcripts of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interviews with Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT I: Sen. Jack Reed (5-8-2024)
SCENE: Ask a Pol’s Matt Laslo walks with Sen. Jack Reed through the basement of the US Capitol before they hop an elevator up to the Senate floor.
Matt Laslo: “Do you have any thoughts on the DEA moving to reschedule marijuana?”
Jack Reed: “You mean, take it off the Controlled Substance List?”
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ML: “Well, they're looking at taking it from Schedule I to maybe II or III…”
Jack Reed: “Yeah.”
ML: “…so they can study it more and stuff.”
JR: “You know, again, it's so prevalent — it's legal in my state, sales — that the conflict between a Schedule I and commercial sales probably has to be corrected.”
ML: “Where are you on SAFER Banking? You still want changes to that?”
JR: “I think we want it, but we don't want them to obstruct regulators in non-legal stuff.”
ML: “Yeah. ‘Obstruct regulators in non-legal stuff.’”
TRANSCRIPT II: Sen. Jack Reed (6-18-2024)
SCENE: After Sen. Jack Reed voted on the Senate floor he runs into Ask a Pol’s Matt Laslo who had a follow-up question on the SAFER Banking Act for him…
Matt Laslo: “I asked you a couple weeks ago, but with SAFER Banking Act?”
Jack Reed: “Yeah.”
ML: “Are you totally won over or are you still — like, did they give you enough changes?”
JR: “Well, we had a bipartisan amendment in committee which satisfied my concerns.”
ML: “Yeah.”
JR: “The question is whether they’re gonna take it out?”
ML: “Yup.”
JR: “And, you know, I don’t know if we’re gonna be doing any banking legislation over the next several weeks at all.”
ML: “Yeah. That’s why I sensed some hesitancy and I was like, ‘I need to ask him a follow-up.’”
Reed offers a Rhode Island half smile.
ML: “Preciate ya. Have a good one.”
Andrey Beregovskiy and Walken Whalen contributed to this report.
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