A coalition of 35 cannabis associations, drug policy reform organizations and a leading national labor union is calling on Congress to address the “humanitarian cost” of robberies that target cash-intensive marijuana business by passing a bipartisan Cannabis Banking Bill “this year.”
The coalition, as the Senate Banking Committee prepares to vote next week on the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (SAFE), sent a Tuesday letter to Congressmen that described the passage of this legislation as a’moral imperative.
The letter from StoptheDrugWar.org, the Cannabis Alliance and others offers a worker’s safety perspective. It explains how the lack of financial services available to marijuana businesses creates an unsustainable environment, which puts workers and customers of cannabis at risk.
The organizations stated that the number of people affected by the violence was in the thousands. This includes the victims, their loved ones and friends, as well as their colleagues at risk. The organizations wrote that “customers of these shops, who sought a safer atmosphere by transferring their business from the underground to the legal system, can be considered an affected population.”
They wrote: “The number affected will continue to increase as more medical or adult-use legal cannabis systems are established, unless measures are taken by Congress to protect them.”
The letter also refers to a Report published by StoptheDrugWar.org in late 2017. It highlights a series of over 100 robberies which took place between November 2021 and April 2022 at more than 80 cannabis dispensaries throughout Washington State. Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat from Washington State, also called for Congress to pass the SAFE Banking Act in light of the recent surge in targeted crimes.
In a press statement on Tuesday, StoptheDrugWar.org’s Executive Director David Borden stated that as cash usage has decreased in our society, those who steal to earn a living are now desperate for money. “Those stores that have valuable merchandise, or have a lot of cash on hand–or both like cannabis shops–are at greater risk than in the past. The problem won’t just disappear on its own.
He said: “Worker safety, to me, is a basic matter of justice. We continue to work on a broad reform in drug policy, but we also feel obligated to help cannabis workers now.”
The new letter by the groups states that studies have shown that cash, not cannabis, is the primary motivation for the robberies. These crimes were “associated with higher levels of aggression than other robberies.”
Signatories of the letter include the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, whose director for legislative and political actions Ademola gave testimony at the Senate Banking Committee’s initial hearing on the Cannabis Bill.
Other groups who signed include the Alliance for Sensible Markets (ASM), Better Organizing to Win Legalization PAC (BOWL), Drug Policy Forum of Hawai’i (DPH), Housing Works (HW), Law Enforcement Action Partnerships (LEAP), Minority Cannabis Business Associations (MCBA), National Cannabis Industry Associations (NCIA), National Cannabis Roundtables (NCR), and NORML.
The letter states that “the abnormal banking situation experienced by the state-legal marijuana industry, along with other facts and long held criminological understandings of property crime, shows that the abnormal bank situation is a factor that jeopardizes workers’ lives and their health.” SAFE Banking may not be the only solution to the cannabis industry’s over-reliance on cash. The cannabis industry’s safety concerns won’t be resolved without it.
It concludes that “in light of the demonstrated human toll which could be incurred if an incident such as the one in Washington were repeated, it is amoral imperative for Congress this year to pass some version of SAFE Banking Act, to advance our country towards a safer environment for workers, owners and customers of state-legal retail cannabis stores,”
The American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp, along with other trade groups representing marijuana business in 16 states and Washington D.C., sent a letter, also in July, to Sherrod Brown, Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Committee (R-SC), urging them to approve the cannabis banking legislation “without further delay.”
In May, the American Bankers Association (ABA), also reiterated its call for passage. All 50 state chapters of the ABA did the same in letters to Congress , as did unions and insurance organizations.
The SAFE Banking Act currently has 42 sponsors, which is nearly half the Senate. Eight Republicans and three Independents are also on board. Insiders claim that the SAFE Banking Act, in its current standalone form, has enough Republican support to pass the Senate with 60 votes.
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In its current form, the measure protects banks, credit unions and depository institutions from being penalized for working with cannabis businesses licensed by state regulators.
Other people have suggested other changes they would like to see included in the cannabis bill, such as expanding protections for marijuana industry access all forms of financial service, including representative on major U.S. Stock Exchanges.
Other advocates have criticized the request, saying that it would be inappropriate to assist businesses at a time when efforts to legalize cannabis in Congress are stalled.
Sen. Jacky Rose (D-NV), has said that she wants the SAFE Banking Act passed with an amendment to allow cannabis businesses to have access to federal Small Business Administration services (SBA).
Recent data from the federal Financial Crimes Enforcement Network shows that, as of the second half of 2023, a record number () of banks and credit cooperatives report that they are working with state-licensed marijuana businesses .
Click here to read the complete marijuana banking Letter.
New Jersey Marijuana Regulators propose permits that would allow dispensaries to partner with research institutions
Photo by Brian Shamblen.
The post Trade Associations and Advocacy Groups Push Congress to Pass Marijuana Banking Bill “This Year” For Worker Safety first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
