Pubdate: Fri, 25 Mar 2016
Source: Orange County Register, The (CA)
Copyright: 2016 The Orange County Register
Contact:  http://www.ocregister.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321

LET POT BUSINESSES TAKE IT TO THE BANK

In a recent report, the Register's pot reporter, Brooke Edwards 
Staggs, wrote on the different ways the growing legal marijuana 
industry is navigating the complex and conflicting mix of state and 
federal law  especially when it comes to money, that most necessary 
asset of any successful business.

"Even with checks and balances, [Chris Francy, director of the OC3 
dispensary in Santa Ana] said, operating in cash makes businesses 
vulnerable to internal theft. They struggle with simple transactions 
like paying workers and bills," the Register reported. "The state 
Board of Equalization says some dispensaries have settled tax bills 
with duffel bags stuffed with up to $150,000."

That's because the federal government still considers marijuana a 
Schedule I drug, along with heroin, LSD, ecstasy and peyote, and 
because traditional banks must adhere to federal regulations against 
handling drug money, the marijuana industry, by and large, is a 
cash-only business.

"What that means for banks is that the revenue they receive from 
serving marijuana businesses  whether it's legal or not under state 
law  is considered dirty money under federal law," Tom Dresslar, with 
the California Department of Business Oversight, told the Register. 
"So as soon as they accept it, they're laundering it."

The nature of a cash-only operation, especially one forced to operate 
from industrial areas, seems inherently vulnerable to robbery and the 
resulting potential for bloodshed. And, as we wrote in November, when 
Santa Ana police responded to shots fired outside of South Coast Safe 
Access and found a man in his late 40s with a gunshot wound to his 
stomach, it already has.

While we've advocated for the arming of security guards for pot 
outlets, the federal government must also move now to reschedule 
marijuana. As a matter of common sense, marijuana should not be 
placed in the same category as heroin, LSD and ecstasy. Further, as 
medical marijuana dispensaries are a legally permissible business, 
the safety of its patients and employees should be paramount and its 
monetary transactions secure.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom