A small change in U.S. Small Business Administration rules could have a big impact on legal weed.
The agency has tightened its lending rules to prohibit banks from using SBA-backed loans to finance any business that has direct interaction with the marijuana industry.
The change was quietly published in a Policy Notice, which went into effect April 3, and is an interesting new approach to policing an industry that is now legal in the majority of U.S. states.
The use of medical marijuana is legal in 29 states while recreational use is legal in nine states. The cannabis industry is also becoming more economically significant — an Arcview Market Research report forecasts the legal marijuana industry will generate $24.5 billion in revenues by 2021.
Top photo courtesy of Adobe Stock
