Congress Tries To Stop Denial Of Banking To Marijuana Providers

Fifteen members of Congress sent a letter Friday to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner urging him to issue “written guidance for financial institutions,” which would commit the Department to not targeting institutions whose account holders are in compliance with state medical marijuana laws.

The patient advocate group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) said it has received “dozens of reports” over the past couple of years from medical marijuana providers in California, Colorado and other states who have either been denied financial services or even had their existing bank accounts terminated with little or no justification.

“It seems clear that legitimate state-run businesses are being denied access to banking services, which does not serve the public interest,” said the letter [PDF], authored by Colorado Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO), with whom ASA has been working to bring this issue to the attention of Treasury.

via Toke of the Town – Congress Tries To Stop Denial Of Banking To Marijuana Providers.

I hope this would also persuade PayPal to change their policies.  PayPal rejected California NORML and CelebStoner.com for taking advertising from clinics that specialize in doctors who write medical marijuana recommendations.

The excuse that Chase, Bank of America, and others have used to deny medical marijuana dispensaries is that since marijuana is federally banned, they might get prosecuted at the federal level for money laundering.  But with the Attorney General’s pronouncement that federal resources would not be used to go after dispensaries operating in compliance with state law, it would follow that federal prosecutors would not go after the banks that serve those dispensaries.

That’s not even a good excuse for PayPal, however, since California NORML and CelebStoner weren’t taking money from dispensaries, but from doctors who have nothing to do with the buying and selling of federally-prohibited marijuana.  Those doctors are just exercising a free speech right to recommend (not prescribe) marijuana.

Secretary Geithner needs to issue a directive similar to Attorney General Holder and tell these banks — who have been bailed out repeatedly by the taxpayers — that we want them to do business with legal medical marijuana organizations.  In these economic times it makes no sense to stifle one of the few growth industries in the nation.  It also makes no sense to have these dispensaries forced to become cash-only businesses, making these places with lots of herb a doubly-attractive targets for violent robberies.

It will be interesting to see how the banking establishment handles weed in California wants it is legal…