US Passes Bill to Allow Banks to Accept Money from Marijuana Sales

The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a measure opening the banking sector to sellers of cannabis, who have struggled to safeguard their earnings from the United States’s booming marijuana industry.

Forty-seven of the 50 states allow varying degrees of marijuana usage and cultivation, and the country’s cannabis industry generates billions of dollars in revenues and employs some 200,000 people, according to NORML, the main pro-legalization lobby.

But federal law considers marijuana a dangerous drug comparable to LSD, cocaine, and heroin, meaning companies struggle to access the federally regulated banking system.

That forces them to do business in cash, leaving them vulnerable to robbery and forcing many companies to hire armed guards and take other security measures.

The SAFE Banking Act, passed with 321 votes in favor and 103 against, “will improve transparency and accountability, and help law enforcement root out illegal transactions to prevent tax evasion, money laundering, and other white-collar crime,” said Democratic Representative Ed Perlmutter, the bill ‘s sponsor.

“This will also reduce the risk of violent crime in our communities.

These businesses and their employees become targets for murder, robbery, assault and more by dealing in all cash,” the lawmaker added.

Opponents of the bill have cited the risk that it will allow drug cartels involved in the marijuana industry easier access to the financial sector.

Cartels “are a significant problem and canvas legal states like California, Washington, and Colorado,” said Patrick McHenry, a Republican lawmaker.

“The cartels have found that it’s easier to grow and process marijuana in legal states like Colorado and ship it throughout the United States than it is to bring it from Mexico or Cuba,” he said.

The bill must be approved by the Senate then signed by President Donald Trump before it can become law.