Yes, Colorado and Washington has made it legal for marijuana to be used for recreational use, however the banks in these states does NOT want the business. According to the banks, it’s legal to sell and use on a state level, but not on a federal level, so the banks as well as credit unions doesn’t want to get involved. Seems as if people who want to join in on the marijuana business has to deal with cash exchange only. John Davis, a medical marijuana business owner has the solution for a way to get around the bank problem. Drop down bottom for more.
I called several banks in Washington. I called a local credit union, a tiny bank in the San Juan islands. Everybody said basically the same thing. Even if selling marijuana is legal under state law, it’s still illegal under federal law. And banks and credit unions worry that this could get them in trouble.
So people who want to go into the marijuana business — who want to legally grow, distribute, sell marijuana in the state — are going to have to operate, basically, like drug dealers. They’re going to have to run a cash business.
John Davis has been through the problem that future marijuana businesses are going to have. He sells medical marijuana in Seattle (medical marijuana has been legal Washington). And he had a really hard time finding a bank willing to work with him, so for a while he did business in cash.
Payroll was a mess. It’s impossible to order supplies — baggies, lights, display cases — without a credit card. PayPal works for some things, but not for others.
