Editor's Note: This issue needs to be a priority for the government, as they are creating dangerous situations for thousands of people who are forced to stockpile large amounts of cash. It's also a reason security is so important for dispensaries and why Cannabis Business Times just released a new report: "Beyond Compliance: A Comprehensive Guide to Security for Cannabis Businesses" ($79).Â
The nation’s rapidly expanding legal marijuana industry, which operates in 23 states and the District of Columbia, enters a new year facing a multibillion-dollar question: What to do with all the millions in cash it collects each week?
Nearly all of the nation’s banks refuse to take money from marijuana sales or offer basic checking or credit card services to the industry for fear they’ll be shut down by federal authorities, for whom marijuana remains an illegal narcotic. The banks won’t do business with growers, processors, retail shops and medical dispensaries, nor with their employees and contractors.
“It’s the biggest problem we have,” said Taylor West, deputy director of theNational Cannabis Industry Association, many of whose 800 members are awash in $5, $10 and $20 bills and change and no bank to put them in.
