If California were to set up a state bank to handle cannabis transactions, it would still need approval from the Federal Reserve. As California state Treasurer John Chiang said on Monday, pressure from all the cannabis-legal states “band[ing] together and press[ing] for answers in Washington” appears to be the best strategy. Starting next year, sales of recreational marijuana in California are expected to generate $1 billion in sales tax revenue. As has been the case since the cannabis industry became an industry, most marijuana businesses in America do not have bank accounts, because, thanks to federal law, banks do not accept their money. This is a problem everywhere: As much as 40 percent of the marijuana businesses in Colorado, which recorded more than $1.3 billion worth of sales last year, do not have bank accounts, the Pew Charitable Trusts reported.
Starting next year, sales of recreational marijuana in California are expected to generate $1 billion in sales tax revenue. That’s an amazing amount of cash—emphasis on cash.
As has been the case since the cannabis industry became an industry, most marijuana businesses in America do not have bank accounts, because, thanks to federal law, banks do not accept their money.
This is a problem everywhere: As much as 40 percent of the marijuana businesses in Colorado, which recorded more than $1.3 billion worth of sales last year, do not have bank accounts, the Pew Charitable Trusts reported.
Some local credit unions quietly take...
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