banks

Trying To Make Cannabis SAFER And Save You Money

Published

7 months ago

October 6, 2023

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Having a 40 hour a week job and working hard should not be a reason you are flagged to not get a car loan. Building a legal business you are passionate about shouldn’t be the reason your bank shuns you. Over 40 states have some form of legal weed and over 48 million have used marijuana. Roughly 90% of Americans believe it should be legal in some form or another. Yet, the GOP and Biden administration believe myths and prefer a thriving illicit (and dangerous) market over a legal, safe, beneficial legal market.

Currently, marijuana business owners, with over 90% being small businesses, operate in an environment where they deal with large amounts of money and second class citizen status. And it directly affects the consumer. Robberies, zero tax breaks, expensive non traditional bank operating loans all get pushed to product cost, impacting the wallet of millions of consumers.

This doesn’t count the 1,500 unlicensed New York City dispensaries which are crushing stores who have gone to the mammoth lengths and huge cost the state has required to operate legally. And they are upcharing consumers also!

The Washington state Treasurer, Michael Pellicciotti, is leading a group of bipartisan legal state officials to help the Senate understand the practical need for SAFER banking. While pleased the new bill has seen more progress than any other, he knows there is more work to done.

Pellicciotti has an important ally in Washington Senator Patty Murray. Murray is the number three in the Senate, a co-sponsor of SAFER Banking, and a champion. Her support is an excellent counterbalance to Mitch McConnell is has been fighting legal marijuana.

One issue around the lack of a SAFER Banking act it makes it harder on the regular workers of businesses to get car, house and other traditional loans. Without SAFER Banking, this is seen as a negative and counts against a regular worker who is holding onto a steady job. Even with a well paying job, banks are more likely to look at through a “no” lens.

“It’s ridiculous that legal cannabis businesses in Washington state are forced to operate entirely in cash—and it puts the safety of their employees and our neighborhoods at risk,” said Senator Murray. “That’s why I’ve been working for years on SAFE Banking legislation and I’m thrilled to see bipartisan momentum behind this bill, which has now advanced further than ever in the U.S. Senate. The SAFER Banking Act is an important first step in doing the right thing for small business owners and the communities they operate in—and I’m going to keep pushing to get it across the finish line. We can’t stop there, though—we need to work towards broader cannabis policy reforms that address the long history of racial injustice and criminalization that have harmed so many communities across the country.”

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All about Cannabis

Cannabis Industry Sues Canadian Banks – Cannabis | Weed | Marijuana

Published

1 year ago

February 14, 2023

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The cannabis industry is suing Canadian banks.

Canada’s legal cannabis industry has launched a class-action lawsuit against Canada’s large cartel of banks. They allege the banks have discriminated against them by arbitrarily closing accounts and denying services and access to credit.

Included in the class action are “all individuals or corporations that, directly or indirectly, do business with the major defendant banks and who are involved in the legal cannabis industry since October 17, 2018,” says the press release.

The class action targets National Bank, Bank of Montreal, TD Bank, Royal Bank, CIBC and Desjardins Group.

Details of the Lawsuit

On February 7, 2023, Gabriel Bélanger of Origami Extractions Inc. filed the class action suit with the lawyers of Groupe SGF.

Groupe SGF is a group of lawyers specializing in corporate, business, indigenous, and labour law. They also provide legal expertise in the cannabis industry.

In a statement, Groupe SGF lawyer Maxime Guérin said: “For far too long, Canadian banks have treated the cannabis industry like pariahs, as if it was still completely illegal. By doing so, they are depriving the Canadian, but especially the local economy of developing a promising market.”

Groupe SGF encourages others to come forward. As a class-action lawsuit, anyone who fits the criteria for being part of the class (i.e., anyone who has been harmed in the same way by the same defendant) is eligible to join the lawsuit and participate in any settlement or award that may result from the case.

However, in this case, you do not have to register to be part of the target group.

According to Groupe SGF, any licensed producer, third-party distributor, cultivation equipment seller, or even people producing fertilizers are eligible.

Why Do Banks Hate Cannabis?

American banks won’t go near cannabis, even in the legal states. This results in the Federal Reserve becoming the nation’s largest money launderer, as they deal directly with the quasi-legal industry. It’s a situation many expect legislation to fix.

But Canada legislated cannabis legalization in 2018. So why won’t Canadian banks treat the industry fairly?

“Our banks won’t touch us because they’re afraid of making the Americans mad at them,” George George Smitherman tells CLN over the phone. George is President and CEO of the Cannabis Council of Canada (C3), an industry lobby group.

“Until they get their banking figured out, our banks are too scared because they’re so exposed to the U.S. They totally lack courage.”

Smitherman says that even the banking services for C3 are outrageous. “They charge us an extra $1000 a year because we’re like some tainted industry.”