Banking Regulations Will Mean Better Service for Cannabis Patients and (Now) Customers

Last week, a banking meeting took place in Washington DC regarding regulations that currently exist that make it difficult for medical marijuana business to have normal access to banking functions.

Since marijuana remains a Schedule I narcotic according to the federal government, even marijuana companies that are 100% compliant with state law still cannot use many banks for credit, savings, and other basic services simply because banks are federally regulated; legitimate earnings are still viewed as drug money by the IRS.

As a budtender working 40 hours a week at a busy Colorado medical marijuana dispensary that will be converting to recreational come the new year, after I’ve helped a patient to select the best meds for them one of my roles is cashier. While many people have just gotten used to the fact that they just have to pay for their meds in cash at this point, several patients still want to be able to pay with a credit or debit card.

We do have a workaround- we have a cashless ATM machine at each register where patients can use a debit card. However, it does charge a $2 fee, and while we do take that amount off any total order over $20, it still only lets us charge to the nearest round number, just like any other ATM machine (for example, a bill of $28.50 with the fee removed is $26.50, but I still have to run it for an even $30 and then just give them the change back.)

Hopefully marijuana dispensaries will be able to take credit cards… like every other legal business.

It really is an easy enough thing to do, but why should we have to be subjected to stupid rules like that when we follow every other law that currently exists?

With new regulations in Colorado that will allow many medical marijuana dispensaries to convert to straight regular retail sales for any person over the age of 21, there are going to many more customers and lots more transactions.

It’s ridiculous to have this much money being dealt with in cash, and even sillier to assume that people all over the country won’t want to use plastic to pay for their flower in a legal store.

While it’s not very likely that the feds are going to get anything together in time for the first legal sale of marijuana in the country in just a few days, here’s to hoping that it will be soon enough that law abiding business that create jobs and add great value to their local economies be treated like every other legitimate business.