Bill from Oregon, Colorado Senators Would Foster Marijuana Banking | ABA

Marijuana advocacy groups lauded the new bill, citing safety issues involved with cash-rich businesses.

However, the Marijuana Business Access to Banking Act of 2015 could change all of that.

Marijuana has been legalized for recreational use in four US states and in the District of Columbia.

Massachusetts voters legalized medical marijuana through a ballot question in 2012, but the state has moved slowly to implement the law.

Without a bank account, pot businesses in Boulder and across the state deal in cash, hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash.

The reality in Colorado is that it is legal to grow pot but extremely hard to grow a pot business without banks and credit unions.

Similar legislation has already been re-introduced in the House after a previous effort to ease access to banking for marijuana companies failed.

Since marijuana is still classed as an illegal substance at a federal level, banks are unable to engage with cannabis businesses. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, has not co-sponsored the legislation yet, but a spokesman said the congressman would consider voting for the bill.

The bill would prevent criminal prosecution as well as liability and asset forfeiture for banks or their officers who do business with a state-sanctioned marijuana business. Due to conflicts between state and federal law, which prohibits marijuana use and distribution, very few depository institutions have been willing to serve marijuana-related businesses. Regulators also would not be allowed to push a bank to halt providing banking services to cannabis businesses or take any negative action against a marijuana-related loan. “We shouldn’t be forced to carry that around in duffel bags”, said Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, in a recent statement.

“Without banks, many of our members are forced to operate entirely in cash, which puts their employees at risk for crime and creates massive challenges for businesses simply trying to pay their taxes, licensing fees, and other ordinary expenses”, he said in a statement.

Mariam Baksh is a student at American University in Washington, D.C., and an intern for The Durango Herald.