The Feds’ Scary Reassurances To Banks That Deal With State-Licensed Marijuana Businesses

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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA:  On Friday the Treasury Department and the Justice Department issued guidelines for banks that do business with state-licensed marijuana suppliers. According to Attorney General Eric Holder, the aim of the memos is to reassure financial institutions that are leery of accepting cannabusinesses as customers because they worry it will attract unwanted attention from federal regulators and prosecutors.

But as with the August 29 memo in which Deputy Attorney General James Cole said that prosecuting properly regulated marijuana growers and sellers would not be a high priority, there are no guarantees, and that fact is likely to deter traditionally cautious banks more than plucky cannabis entrepreneurs. [Read more…]

Marijuana Regulation Is Largely an Illusion in Denver, Too, But So What?

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COLORADO: The Justice Department’s crackdown on medical marijuana has been notably less heavy-handed in Colorado than in other states.

While the feds have shut down hundreds of dispensaries in California and continue to target businesses that supply cannabis to patients in Washington, John Walsh, the U.S. attorney for Colorado, has contented himself with sending threatening letters to 50 or so medical marijuana centers he deemed too close to schools. [Read more…]