SAFE Act Dead Would Have Extended Banking Services
SAFE Act Dead for 2022, Would Have Extended Banking Services to Cannabis Industry
Cash-only transactions expose retailers to unnecessary danger.
Oregon politicians led by U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, both Democrats, have long pushed to overturn the federal prohibition on banks providing services to the legal cannabis industry.
Because cannabis remains illegal at the federal level, federal banking regulators have discouraged banks from accepting deposits or providing credit or other services even to legitimate cannabis businesses in the states that have legalized cannabis.
The result: Retailers, such as those in Oregon, can only accept cash. That is highly inconvenient for customers and worse for retailers—imagine lugging a duffel bag full of bills to Salem each quarter to pay taxes to the Oregon Department of Revenue.