Government Issues Rules to Bankers about Marijuana

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Marijuana has been quite the hot topic recently, especially since twenty states and the District of Columbia have now legalized the medical and/or recreational use of it.  This news article is about the government issued rules for banks interested in serving legal marijuana businesses.  Previously, banks have declined to work with legal marijuana businesses mainly because it is still illegal.  While some states may have legalized its use, the production, sale, and possession of marijuana remain illegal under federal law.  Coincidentally, we were recently talking about this in our AP Gov class; the supremacy clause and federal preemption.  When federal and state laws conflict, federal laws reign supreme.  For this reason, banks who conduct business with these marijuana dispensaries could suffer money penalties, withdrawal of FDIC insurance, and could even suffer being banned from working in the banking industry for life.  As a result there are slim to no banks that want to do business with marijuana dealers.  Consequently, this leaves those dispensaries to conduct an all-cash business which creates a tempting target for thieves.  As a solution to this problem, the Treasury and Justice department have issued regulations geared at bringing the hidden marijuana business operations out from the shadows.  These rules advise bankers to file a "marijuana limited" or a "marijuana priority" report based on whether the marijuana dealers are reputable or are conducting suspicious activity.  In order for a dispensary to be reputable, they must be able to verify that they have a legal licence to sell marijuana.  In addition, they must inform the bankers of the nature of their clientele and the types of products they sell.  While this may seem like a step in the right direction, many bankers are still reluctant to dive into the marijuana business.  Even so, they fear penalties and do not have full confidence considering this is just advise and not law.  Bankers say they would feel more comfortable conducting business with legal marijuana dealers if congress passed a law that okay-ed it rather than the Justice and Treasury Departments giving them advise and rules.

In my opinion I agree with the bankers and believe it would be beneficial if congress passed a law that federally legalized the production, sale, and use (either medical or recreational or both) of marijuana.  My belief is that there are many more good sides to marijuana than bad.  To name a few, studies have shown that the use of marijuana has caused the rate at which tumorous cancer cells divide to slow down.  In addition it is a pain reliever that can aid in taking away pain from many chronic diseases, as well as the nausea from chemotherapy.  Furthermore marijuana has been shown to have potential therapeutic uses of many diseases ranging from Osteoporosis to Epilepsy, Alzheimer's and even Huntington's Disease.  Not only does marijuana have medical benefits it also has the potential to bring in some big money.  The government could put excise taxes on marijuana and tax the heck out of it, but also statistics show that marijuana if legalized could generate an estimated total of $12-$18 billion a year.  As for the rules that the Justice and Treasury Departments put out for bankers, I think was a good attempt.  However, I believe it will be an extremely slow process for bankers to become comfortable with doing business with these marijuana dispensaries if it isn't federally legalized.  I think this is one of those things where you tired and made an effort but it didn't really have the intended results you would have like.

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