Marijuana legalization is a huge issue in current American
politics, as multiple states have passed laws allowing for the recreational
sale and usage of the drug. There is one
very big problem with these laws.
Federal law states that the narcotic marijuana is illegal, while some
states have laws that say otherwise. The
marijuana is bringing in large amounts of money but they have nowhere to keep
this money except in cash. The banking
business is a federally-run organization and they do not allow for the
marijuana businesses to put large amounts of drug money into the bank. If dealers would try to deposit their money,
the dealer would lose their money and the bank would get in trouble. There is a huge debate about what the federal
government should do about this problem and marijuana dealers are outraged
because having large amounts of cash is very dangerous.
The
public view of the narcotic is starting to shift, as states like Colorado and
Washington continue to see benefits from their decisions to legalize
marijuana. Also, some banks are
beginning to warm up to the idea of banking marijuana money. The First Security Bank of Nevada is the
first bank to publicly and freely accept money acquired in the cannabis
industry. They have already seen close
to 35 Million dollars in deposits from industries alone. Establishing a banking business for the
marijuana money would greatly benefit all suppliers of marijuana products and
most of all, banks. The marijuana
business was equal to 1.5 billion dollars in 2013 and it is only growing as our
society is changing.
Highly
influential members of the business have started notions to try and get their
own banking system. The Federal Reserve
was contacted by Mark Mason, who just wants a place to keep his large amounts
of money instead of having them guarded by security and guards all the
time. Having a bank in which to store
his money would save him a fortune and he would be able to stop dealing in
cash. Mr. Mason and a few other
influential pot enthusiasts filed to the Federal Reserve for a “master”
account. Normally, these requests are
granted in no time, but their request was sent almost 3 months ago. They are currently waiting on the Feds to
help them with their large monetary problem the cannabis business has caused.
Overall,
the states and cannabis businesses are in a debate about selective
incorporation and whether these states should have to follow the federal ban of
marijuana or if they override this ban. Many people think that
marijuana should be legal everywhere due to its large monetary benefits but it just needs to find a banking
system to support it.
Sources:
Sources:
- http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/08/business/marijuana-industry-in-colorado-eager-for-its-own-bank-waits-on-the-fed.html?_r=0
- http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-marijuana-banking-20141128-story.html#page=1
- http://www.cnbc.com/id/102186623#
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