What\u2019s more powerful than the political conflict between Democrats and Republicans? You guessed it: cannabis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Tuesday, bipartisan Pennsylvania state senators revealed a plan to introduce a bill protecting banks and insurers who work with legal medical cannabis businesses from repercussions of state regulators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senators John DiSanto (R) and Sharif Street (D)\u2014chair and minority chair of the Banking & Insurance Committee, respectively\u2014hope their bill not only insulates financial institutions within the Commonwealth, but also serves as a catalyst for passage of the larger Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act at the federal level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Federal guidelines from 2014 overseeing lenders\u2019 interaction with weed companies do not firmly shield the former from prosecution. While this has only been sporadically enforced at best, it doesn\u2019t give most banks the reassurance they need to comfortably provide capital to cannabis-related businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs a result, many cannabis-related businesses are locked out of the banking system without access to financial tools and are forced to operate exclusively in cash,\u201d the DiSanto-Street memo says. \u201cThis is a public safety risk as dispensaries are targets for robberies that put patients, employees, and communities at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Furthermore, the memo states, banking difficulties in the cannabis<\/a> space \u201care not limited to just those businesses that have direct contact with the cannabis plant, but also those entities that receive payments from a cannabis firm such as real estate owners, security firms, utility providers, vendors, and employees.\u201d In other words, the entire cannabis food chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DiSanto and Street\u2019s proposed legislation would not only grant immunity to banks and insurers for after-the-fact dealings with legitimate cannabis businesses<\/a>, but also preempt any bullying tactics that state authorities may use to discourage the parties from doing business in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n