Lawmakers Warn Inaction on Marijuana Banking Threatens Public Safety
Cannabis businesses and workers in pot-legal states have been targeted by a spike in violent crime, while reform legislation that could better protect them remains in limbo, say supporters of the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act.
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Lawmakers and state officials say passage of the currently stalled Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, which help legal cannabis businesses resolve financial challenges as well as address the public safety issue facing the cash-intensive businesses, reports Marijuana Moment.
Recently, cannabis businesses and workers in legal states have been targeted by a spike in violent crime. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, the sponsor of the bill, has asked Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to “impress upon the administration the need” to pass the reform legislation either as part of the America COMPETES Act or as a standalone bill “so that nobody else dies because there’s so much cash” in the state markets.
Meanwhile, the American Bankers Association (ABA) reports that a strong majority of Americans support freeing up banks to work with marijuana businesses without facing federal penalties, even as recently released federal data shows that the number of banks that report working with marijuana businesses ticked up again near the end of 2021.
