Pubdate: Wed, 13 Jan 2016
Source: Colorado Springs Independent (CO)
Column: CannaBiz
Copyright: 2016 Colorado Springs Independent
Contact:  http://www.csindy.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1536
Author: Griffin Swartzell

POT BANKING TAKES A HIT

U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson dismissed Fourth Corner Credit 
Union's suit against the Kansas City branch of the Federal Reserve 
last week. In a nine-page decision, Jackson said ordering the Fed to 
grant Fourth Corner a master account (the mandatory connection to 
federal banking oversight) would "facilitate criminal activity," as 
marijuana is federally illegal.

Jackson cited the Tenth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Court's August 
2015 decision that marijuana companies cannot file for bankruptcy, 
which said, "... while the debtors have not engaged in intrinsically 
evil conduct, the debtors cannot obtain bankruptcy relief because 
their marijuana business activities are federal crimes."

The Indy reached out to Fourth Corner but received no response by press time.

There is some good in Jackson's decision. He ends his conclusions 
with scathing language against guidance issued by former Deputy 
Attorney General James Cole and the Financial Crimes Enforcement 
Network. Jackson says, "[T]hese guidance documents simply suggest 
that prosecutors and bank regulators might 'look the other way' if 
financial institutions don't mind violating the law. A federal court 
cannot look the other way. I regard the situation as untenable and 
hope that it will soon be addressed and resolved by Congress."

Kansas seeks data

When U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. advised the U.S. 
Supreme Court to throw out the lawsuit against Colorado filed by 
Nebraska and Oklahoma, he said the suit did not back up the claim 
that Amendment 64 had caused the states "irreparable damage."

Kansas has not joined the suit, but Kansas Attorney General Derek 
Schmidt isn't taking a wholly laissez faire stance. In a release last 
week, Schmidt says he "has launched a statewide project to collect 
information about how marijuana acquired in Colorado is entering and 
affecting Kansas." He has sent a request for data to all Kansas 
sheriffs and police chiefs.

"We need data that shows what is actually happening in Kansas as the 
result of Colorado's experiment," Schmidt concludes. "In my view, any 
response needs to be thoughtful and informed by factual data, not emotions."

Meanwhile, Oklahoma AG Scott Pruitt and Nebraska AG Doug Peterson 
have compared Colorado's legalized marijuana industry to a drug 
cartel, according to The Oklahoman. They claim that Colorado is 
calling itself a "major exporter of marijuana," indirectly citing 
last month's report on how pot has affected Colorado tourism.

Pruitt and Peterson once again have failed to produce any numbers to 
back up their claim that Colorado's legal marijuana has harmed their 
states. Despite both federal opposition and a total lack of data, 
both plan to push for their day before the Supreme Court.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom