Bipartisan congressional lawmakers with diverging views on marijuana policy are jointly asking the Justice Department to investigate the nexus between state-level legalization and the “proliferation” of illicit cannabis farms linked to the Chinese Community Party (CCP)—including the possibility that some are banked by U.S. financial institutions.
In a letter signed by 50 members of the House and Senate and sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday, the lawmakers said they are “deeply concerned with reports from across the country regarding Chinese nationals and organized crime cultivating marijuana on United States farmland.”
“In some cases, the grow operators were also engaged in human trafficking, forced labor, drug trafficking, and violent crime,” they said. “These farms are most commonly in states with legal marijuana programs where illicit growers try to disguise their operations in communities where law-abiding Americans live and work. The thousands of illicit Chinese marijuana growing operations pose a direct threat to public safety, human rights, national security, and the addiction crisis gripping our nation.”
The letter, first reported by The Daily Caller, was led by Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA), Angus King (I-ME), as well as Reps. Pete Sessions (R-TX), Jared Golden (D-ME) and David Valadao (R-CA).
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