In late August, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that it would recommend moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. In this episode, corporate cannabis attorney Daniel Shortt moderates a discussion with tax attorney Douglas Charnas and financial services regulatory attorney
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SAFER Act: Marijuana May Soon Become a Bigger Deal
Proponents of marijuana reform have had cause for celebration in 2023. Despite challenges facing the industry, the political and social momentum surrounding cannabis is ticking upward.
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Cash Transportation for Cannabis-Related Businesses
With the ever-expanding legalization of medical and adult-use cannabis across the United States an ever-expanding problem is coming to the forefront: cash transportation.
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Marijuana & Banking: What’s the Hold Up? Part 2 – Compliance Challenges
For financial institutions who engage in marijuana-related banking services, the primary compliance challenge remains the disconnect between federal and state law, as it is still illegal to manufacture, distribute, or dispense marijuana under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
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Marijuana & Banking: What’s the Hold Up? Part 1 – Conflicting Legal Landscapes
Today, nearly four-fifths of the United States have regulated medical marijuana markets. Nearly half of the United States, consisting of twenty-one states along with Washington, D.C. and Guam, have acted to legalize recreational adult-use marijuana. However, the possession, distribution, and sale of marijuana remains illegal under federal law, which means any contact with money that can be traced back to state-legal marijuana operations could still be considered money laundering and expose a bank to significant legal, operational, and regulatory risk.
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What Will New York Do if Dispensaries Do Not Open in Time?
According to a recent article from Upstate New York, the state of New York is confronting an issue commonly faced in the state-legal cannabis industry, a lack of banking options. The New York regulators need an account for the Seeding Opportunity Initiative fund of $200M, which will go to
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Will the Push for a Bank Safe Harbor on Cannabis Succeed?
The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) has sent letters to the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, stressing the importance of providing safe harbor for financial institutions offering financial products and services to cannabis or cannabis ancillary businesses under the proposed Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act.
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WSLCB and DFI Want to Help Washington Cannabis Businesses Become Cash Free
On April 19, 2022, the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) and the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) issued a joint press release regarding “Cashless Retail Transactions.” In this memo, WSLCB and DFI address the recent rash of deadly cannabis retail store robberies in Washington. Because Washington
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Proposed Federal Marijuana Reform: Financial Services Industry Primer
On Friday, April 1, 2022, the House of Representatives passed the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act for the second time in two years. The MORE Act is one of at least three pieces of offered legislation that legalizes, or partially legalizes, marijuana at the federal level.
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