Nevada cannabis industry may gain better access to banking industry

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) -Nevada has the second highest sales per capita of legal cannabis in the country. Voters approved Marijuana for medical use; in 2016 they approved marijuana for recreational purposes.

Sol Cannabis just like any other marijuana business in this state is regulated by the Cannabis Board here in Nevada, and it pays taxes to the State Department of Taxation.

What may not be well-known, all transactions done here are in cash.

“We have folks that come in and say, oh I forgot you are cash only,” says Ed Alexander SOL Cannabis owner. “Thankfully we live in a world where 90% have debit cards. So, they go to the ATM they withdraw. Thankfully we have a low ATM fee here. So, we are not trying to take advantage of the fact they have to withdraw cash from an ATM. No VISA, no MasterCard. As a matter of fact, they’ve come out recently against cannabis.”

That’s because on a federal level, cannabis is still illegal, which means most banks regulated by the feds risk civil and criminal liability doing businesses with the cannabis industry.

The impact on the cannabis industry here in Nevada is significant. Alexander says he can’t take out any business loans. His employees may not be able to get a home loan because of where they work. Banks who do business with the marijuana industry can charge fees for deposits and other transactions.

“Nevada voters legalized cannabis use years ago,” says Senator Catherine Corez Masto, the Senior U.S. Senator from Nevada. “There is no reason all these businesses shouldn’t be able to access the banking system to keep themselves and their customers safe.”

Those were comments she made last week during the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee.

Senator Cortez Masto helped push the “SAFER Banking Act” through that committee. The bill is on its way to the senate floor.

Nevada’s Attorney General Aaron Ford fully backs the legislation. He along with 21 other Attorneys General–one representing the conservative state of Oklahoma encouraged lifting bank restrictions from state-licensed cannabis businesses; citing safety concerns and stability to the industry.

Observers of this bill say they don’t expect it to be passed into law overnight. But if it does, that will be just one roadblock lifted from the cannabis industry.

The next will be taxation.

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