DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: A growing number of banks and credit unions are providing financial services to marijuana-related businesses, according to data released by FinCEN (the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) and first publicized by the news portal MarijuanaMoment.net. The report acknowledged that the number of financial institutions actively banking with marijuana-related businesses rose from 401 in October Read the full article…
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Although 28 states have already legalized marijuana for medicinal or recreational use, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) continues to label marijuana a Schedule 1 substance, along with heroin and LSD, making it illegal on a federal level. As a result, the banking industry has been slow to provide services to marijuana Read the full article…
COLORADO: While organizers work to get a marijuana credit union off the ground in Colorado — and possibly financial cooperatives for pot-related businesses that were approved by the Legislature last spring — an entire cottage industry of security and transportation specialists has popped up here to deal with the cash-heavy sector. Lakewood-based Blue Line Protection Group Read the full article…
WASHINGTON: The Seattle-based nonprofit once known as Group Health Credit Union changed its name in 2010 to evoke a green, leafy, hardy plant seen as having medicinal properties. No, not that one. But four years later, what is now Salal Credit Union is gingerly stepping into a different field of green by doing business with Read the full article…
COLORADO: A late bill to create co-ops to finance the marijuana industry has come back from a near-death experience. House Bill 1398 got off to a strong start Thursday in the House Business Committee, only to get gutted late that evening in the House Finance Committee before House Appropriations restored the original version Friday morning Read the full article…
COLORADO: Across America, lawmakers are eyeing tax revenue from legalized marijuana. Colorado and Washington are each officially expecting over $100 million annually in marijuana excise taxes. In a few days, the Colorado Department of Revenue is due to report how much marijuana tax was paid there for January, the first full month of recreational sales anywhere ever. But the report Read the full article…
COLORADO: Colorado’s legal marijuana market is far exceeding tax expectations, according to a budget proposal released Wednesday by Gov. John Hickenlooper that gives the first official estimate of how much the state expects to make from pot taxes. The proposal outlines plans to spend some $99 million next fiscal year on substance abuse prevention, youth Read the full article…
NEW YORK: Why is everybody buzzing about silly ol’ David Brooks? We have more important pot-related news to talk about. High Times, the largest cannabis-related publication in the world, recently announced that it is making moves to establish a private equity fund to provide legitimate pot startups with much-needed capital.
NEW YORK: Why is everybody buzzing about silly ol’ David Brooks? We have more important pot-related news to talk about. High Times, the largest cannabis-related publication in the world, recently announced that it is making moves to establish a private equity fund to provide legitimate pot startups with much-needed capital.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: The federal government is taking a hands-off approach to state marijuana legalization schemes, at least for the time being. But as Washington and Colorado begin to create the regulatory framework for legal marijuana, they may require some federal help.