Chris McAlvain and Matt Blackwood were going by the books on their first crop — especially with their combined savings on the line. They did their research, paid for their license, bought their equipment and cured their harvest for 40 days, three weeks past the minimum recommendation. The founders of Green Sky Pharms, located 45 […]
Marijuana Banking
Utah attorney general wants Congress to let marijuana businesses use banks
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes joined a bipartisan coalition of 34 state and territorial attorneys general asking Congress to let legal marijuana businesses access the federal banking system. They are urging Congress to pass the federal Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act or a similar bill as part of upcoming COVID-19 relief legislation. “This bill would […]
Allowing marijuana businesses to open bank accounts could be part of coronavirus stimulus
Legislation allowing banks to provide credit cards and checking accounts to legal cannabis businesses has been stalled in the Senate. But members of Congress are looking to add its provisions to the next coronavirus stimulus bill, NJ Cannabis Insider has learned. The argument is that many patients who use legal marijuana are among the most vulnerable to contracting COVID-19, […]
Colorado Launches Array of Marijuana Banking Efforts
After over six years of limited movement at the state level and with Congress currently stalled, Colorado lawmakers and other officials have launched several campaigns to provide more guidance and protection for financial intuitions that provide services to the state’s legal marijuana industry. Although currently legal in Colorado and ten other states, as well as […]
Missouri’s New Medical Marijuana Industry Puts Banks In A Tough Spot
Robbie Guard sees a green opportunity in Missouri’s newest industry — medical marijuana. He runs the Cape Girardeau office for MRV Banks. The 13-year-old institution has just three locations along the Missouri side of the Mississippi River. As a relatively young bank with a small footprint, it struggles to bring in new accounts. Guard hopes […]
Democrat Buttigieg used marijuana ‘a handful of times’
Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday that he’s used marijuana “a handful of times a long time ago,” and that it’s time for the U.S. to legalize marijuana. Buttigieg, speaking to reporters after touring a legal pot dispensary in suburban Las Vegas, was asked about whether he’d ever used marijuana. “I have. A handful […]
Colorado’s top federal prosecutor says banks working with marijuana industry have “no carve out” from prosecutions
Colorado’s top federal prosecutor says that he would never tell banks working with legal marijuana businesses in the state that they are devoid of criminal liability. “As federal prosecutors,” Jason Dunn told The Colorado Sun on Tuesday, “we will never tell them that what they are doing is lawful under federal law. There’s always a […]
Marijuana expected to get traction in Senate — as a banking bill
The Senate is poised to take up legislation to boost the nation’s booming cannabis industry, with its backers feeling bullish and selling it as a bill that is more about banking than marijuana. Their confidence follows action in the House on Wednesday, where Democrats and Republicans joined forces to pass an historic bill that would give […]
House to vote on bipartisan cannabis banking bill this month
The House will vote later this month on a bipartisan bill that will allow cannabis businesses access to the federal banking system. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer intends to bring the SAFE Banking Act to the House floor for a vote this month, his office confirmed to CNN. Hoyer announced at the whip meeting Thursday on Capitol Hill […]
Alaska credit union to end marijuana business pilot program
An Alaska credit union plans to discontinue a pilot program to provide checking and savings accounts to marijuana-related businesses, an official said. Credit Union 1 will end the program Aug. 30 because critical insurance coverage will no longer be available, The Anchorage Daily News reported Tuesday. Credit Union 1 announced the program’s launch in November […]
