The effort to make banking services more accessible to the cannabis industry in our nation’s capital has fallen short. According to sources, the conference committee members joining the House and Senate sides of the COMPETES Act have chosen not to retain the language of the SAFE Banking Act in the bill’s final version.
SAFE Banking has proven recently to be a subject of controversy among not just the parties that would like to see legalization halted fully. Essentially, it boils down to whether or not one believes it’s good to exploit the topic in lieu of a bargaining chip in the whole equity debate, which will surely be a part of the legalization battle that’s to come. Otherwise, you could choose to see it as a public safety issue that has an impact on the present. Aside from the latter, the main idea is to present small operators of today with access to strong financial services in order to hold off big dogs capable of throwing giant money into the industry mill, and cutting off the biggest proverbial slices of pie available.
Reputable cannabis minds are present on both sides.
Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition (CRCC) have stated that excluding the SAFE Banking Act from the COMPETES act report serves up another chance to cannabis equity groups as well as legislative leaders, who can now work together on including much-needed equity-focused changes to the banking reorm bill for marijuana. The statement reads, “As written, the highly anticipated impact of SAFE for small and minority cannabis businesses remains incongruent with the bill’s current language. SAFE Banking Act still does NOT a) reduce fees for usual and customary financial services provided to small cannabis businesses, b) require all financial institutions to provide services to small cannabis businesses, c) eliminate already existing disproportionate inequities in the provision of financial services for Black and Latinx business owners, or d) remediate ongoing issues with 280E tax implications for small cannabis businesses. CRCC has proposed changes and will continue to ideate on banking-specific amendments that will move the needle for MDIs and CDFIs reluctant to work with small cannabis businesses despite unprecedented opportunities for community and economic development.”
Congressman Earl Blumenauer has led the fight to get SAFE Banking in for years now. He has remained a champion for the cause before recent times when many of his colleagues even found the “cool” factor in cannabis policy reform. A co-chair of the Cannabis Caucus, he submitted the first of his decriminalization bills as early as 1973, which was just a year into his entry into politics, as a representative of the state of Oregon. While dealing with tough news in the nation’s capital, he found time to make a statement. “I find it not only disappointing, we’re not giving up, but this is a strange situation,” Blumenauer opined. “There are 100 people on the conference committee and it has only met once. So, I’m planning to continue to do just as I have done, bring this up repeatedly. Make a point that this is actually a public safety crisis. And it was supported by most of the people on the conference committee.”
You can get the general gist of the whole situation from just typing “dispensary murder” or “dispensary robbery” into Google News. Still, there are those that believe the violence targeting dispensaries has nothing to do with the massive amounts of cash which they have to keep lying around because they can’t have bank accounts. When asked what he has to say to fellow advocates on his side of the fence who don’t see this as a public safety issue, Rep. Blumenauer said, “I am stunned. Have them look at our communities, look at any of the major areas around the country. These dispensaries, particularly those that are owned by people of color in more challenging neighborhoods, it is absolutely a public safety crisis.” Blumenauer also noted one dispensary operator who supports the SAFE Banking effort, who has had three fatalities inside a week. “There have been more than 200 robberies in Portland already this year,” he said. “It just defies description. It’s a huge problem for the very communities that claim they want to help.”
Keith Stephenson – founder of the nation’s first black-owned cannabis business, which is situated in Oakland – was asked if he was of the same notion as Blumenauer on the impact SAFE Bankings will have on safety. It needs to be noted that Stephenson has been at work attempting to reopen his establishment without help from a predatory loan, following it being ransacked by thieves who used the 2020 summer protests as cover. “Absolutely, the easiest call,” he said. “That’s why the industry is at threat from robberies.”
Blumenauer says that cannabis advocates who aren’t on board with his and Stephenson’s take are in denial. “They have other priorities and they simply have not spent time on the ground with people who they claim they want to help,” Blumenauer said. His main argument in this regard is that some of these operators will prove to be sitting ducks thanks to their geographic location. Making them all-cash businesses simply adds extra risks into the equation. “The big operators, they can handle it. But if you’re a smaller operation, dealing exclusively in cash is very expensive,” he opined. “So it’s dangerous. It’s expensive. It’s hard for them to grow their business. I think they’re just in denial and they haven’t spent time talking to people on the front lines. I’ve talked to people not just in Oregon, but around the country and it is a serious problem. It’s a public safety problem. It’s an equity issue. It deals with disparities. I just think these folks are smoking what we’re trying to legalize.”
