California finally legalized marijuana (officially), but with increased interest and subsequent revenue, the ever-present question of where marijuana businesses in California and other cannabis-legal states should place their money for safekeeping arises yet again. While some credit unions and community banks have been open to dealing with cannabis businesses, including one in particular in Maryland that’s seemingly supporting many of the newly legal weed enterprises in the state, these small-town solutions won’t scale to suit the needs of the entire industry.
Ever since individual states began legalizing cannabis in the face of federal prohibition, there has been a disconnect on the financial front. The state governments want to erase the black market and tax those sales for the betterment of infrastructure, education, addiction support, and more, yet banking institutions in the state have their hands tied because of a reliance on federal insurance.
With recreational marijuana sales and taxation up and running in California — the world’s sixth largest economy — it’s real world, implementable solutions that are required now, not later.
The City of Los…