DOJ Considering How To Allow Bank, Pot Shop Transactions

In addition to the Department of Justice stating that they won’t undermine the legalization of marijuana in Washington and Colorado, they are also “actively considering” how to allow banks to accept transactions from state-legal marijuana businesses.

This may seem like a small technicality, but is actually a colossal step forward for both medical and recreational marijuana. Forcing marijuana businesses to operate solely with cash increases risk to those businesses and its customers, something most cannabis advocates feared would then be used as an argument against cannabis enterprises.

Colorado Representative Ed Purlmutter agrees that banking issues need to be addressed for the marijuana industry to increase public safety: “We need to address the public safety, crime and lost tax revenue associated when these legal and regulated businesses are operating in a cash-only system.”

The change in federal policy we’ve seen over the past week is especially welcome after recent news from Harborside Health Center, that the armored truck services they used to transport their cash had been warned to stop serving the dispensary, seemingly escalating the incentive for criminals to target marijuana businesses and their employees. While one could easily assume that these armored truck companies are now in the clear to continue these services, I have not found any information directly confirming this reasonable assumption.