Washington State officials on Tuesday held a virtual roundtable to address the recent spate of deadly robberies targeting marijuana retailers, with regulators reiterating their call for a federal policy change and discussing steps the state can take on its own while Congress fails to act.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers, advocates and representatives of cannabis businesses that have been recently robbed took part in the event, which was organized by the state\u2019s Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB)<\/a> after at least three people were killed within the span of four recent days at three different Washington cannabis retailers.<\/p>\n \u201cThis issue has been brought to the forefront of the public\u2019s attention in recent weeks because of the the horrific natures of that robberies sort that have occurred\u2014but it\u2019s just a reminder that every robbery that occurs is a traumatic situation for those who are involved in it,\u201d Washington State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti said at the event.<\/p>\n Looking forward to the #Cannabis<\/a> Retail Safety Forum, hosted by Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board, coming up at 10:15 am (PST). Watch live on TVW: https:\/\/t.co\/zvwkZUNObw<\/a> or watch via Teams here: https:\/\/t.co\/IGvfpir5RM<\/a> \u2014 WA State Treasurer (@WaTreasurer) March 29, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Pellicciotii said it\u2019s become obvious that the problem comes back to the fact that \u201cthe cannabis businesses and retailers in our state and around the country are unable to bank and have to rely on cash.\u201d<\/p>\n While passing congressional legislation to protect banks that choose to service state-legal marijuana businesses \u201cmight not be the full fix for the situation,\u201d there\u2019s widespread recognition that the lack of protections is \u201ca major contributing factor\u201d to these violent robberies, he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cA decade of congressional dithering is enough,\u201d Pellicciotti said, referring to the fact that the House has six occasions approved marijuana banking legislation in some form, only to have it continually stall in the Senate. \u201cWe are at a point where Congress needs to pass the SAFE Banking Act.\u201d<\/p>\n UPDATE on the Cannabis Retail Safety Forum: \u2014 WA State Treasurer (@WaTreasurer) March 29, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Pellicciotti made similar remarks at a recent conference of the National Association of State Treasurers (NAST)<\/a>. And Colorado Treasurer Dave Young echoed that sentiment in a recent interview<\/a> with Marijuana Moment.<\/p>\n \u201cSince Washington State was such a leader in creating a legalized, regulated market for cannabis, I feel it\u2019s Washington State\u2019s role to be stepping forward and doing everything we can to really go to Congress and say, \u2018enough congressional deferring on this issue, and it\u2019s time to finally pass this,’\u201d referring to the bipartisan Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act from U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO).<\/p>\n State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti joins the #Cannabis<\/a> Retail Safety Forum to talk about his efforts to pass the #SAFEBankingAct<\/a> and create a safer working environment for so many industry workers across the nation. pic.twitter.com\/BQiWQFkoNt<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 WA State Treasurer (@WaTreasurer) March 29, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n David Postman, chair of LCB, said that \u201cwe\u2019re running up against a wall from Congress that says, \u2018no, you can\u2019t do it all\u2014we\u2019re not going to let you do that\u2014even though your voters want to do that.’\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to have to keep hitting on that really hard,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Aaron Varney of Dockside Cannabis told participants at the event that one thing state officials could do in the absence of federal reform would be to create a tax credit to help offset security costs for cannabis businesses, which can run as high as $70 per hour for on-site guards.<\/p>\n A representative of the World of Weed dispensary in Tacoma, which recently saw one of its employees killed during a robbery, also participated.<\/p>\n Tuesday\u2019s roundtable also included an advisor to Gov. Jay Inslee (D), National Cannabis Industry Association\u2019s (NCIA) Michael Correia, state Sen. Karen Keiser (D) and other stakeholders.<\/p>\n Perlmutter, for his part, is committed to getting something done before his retirement. He\u2019s even made a point to talk about enacting the reform legislation during committee hearings on\u00a0ostensibly unrelated or wider-ranging legislation<\/a>, like at a recent House Rules Committee hearing.<\/p>\n At a recent event hosted by the American Bankers Association (ABA), the congressman said that he will\u00a0\u201ccontinue to be a real pest, and persistent in getting this done\u201d<\/a>\u00a0before he leaves Congress.<\/p>\n Following the bipartisan House passage of the banking bill, Perlmutter said he naively expected it \u201cto sail through the Senate, which is always a bad assumption, because nothing sails through the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n But he\u2019s taken pains to build support, including from current Senate leadership that has insisted on enacting comprehensive legalization with firm equity provisions in place before advancing a bill viewed as friendly to the industry.<\/p>\n Despite recently\u00a0saying that he\u2019s \u201cconfident\u201d that the Senate will take up his bill<\/a>\u00a0this session, the congressman recognized that while he\u2019s supportive of revisions related to criminal justice reform, taxation, research and other issues, he knows that \u201cas we expand this thing, then we start losing votes, particularly Republican votes and we got enough votes in the Senate to do it\u201d as is.<\/p>\n Perlmutter also brought up the fact that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has\u00a0addressed the federal-state marijuana banking conflict<\/a>\u00a0and \u201cshe wants to get this off her plate and get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n Ahead of the ABA\u00a0event, the financial group released a poll that it commissioned showing that a strong majority of Americans\u00a0support freeing up banks to work with marijuana businesses<\/a>\u00a0without facing federal penalties.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the number of banks that report working with marijuana businesses\u00a0ticked up again near the end of 2021<\/a>, according to recently released federal data.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not clear if the increase is related to congressional moves to pass a bipartisan cannabis banking reform bill, but the figures from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) signal that financial institutions continue to feel more comfortable servicing businesses in state-legal markets.<\/p>\n Some Republicans are scratching their heads about how Democrats have so far failed to pass the modest banking reform with majorities in both chambers and control of the White House, too. For example, Rep. Rand Paul (R-KY)\u00a0criticized his Democratic colleagues over the issue<\/a>\u00a0in December.<\/p>\n In the interim, federal financial regulator Rodney Hood\u2014a board member and former chairman of the federal National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)\u2014recently said that marijuana legalization is not a question of \u201cif\u201d but \u201cwhen,\u201d and he\u2019s again offering advice on\u00a0how to navigate the federal-state conflict<\/a>\u00a0that has left many banks reluctant to work with cannabis businesses.<\/p>\n Georgia Lawmakers Approve Bill To Create Psychedelic Study Committee<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Washington Officials Step Up Push For Federal Marijuana Banking Reform Following String Of Deadly Robberies<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Washington State officials on Tuesday held a virtual roundtable to address the recent spate of deadly robberies targeting marijuana retailers, with regulators reiterating their call for a federal policy change and discussing steps the state can take on its own while Congress fails to act. Lawmakers, advocates and representatives ofContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53901"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53901"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53902,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53901\/revisions\/53902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
#cannabisindustry<\/a><\/p>\n\n
World of Weed Owner Alden Linn recounts the heartbreaking loss of Jordan Brown, one of his dedicated #cannabis<\/a> dispensary employees who was shot and killed during a recently robbery, and the need for increased safety. pic.twitter.com\/G48Kgonpy8<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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\nRead More: Washington Officials Step Up Push For Federal Marijuana Banking Reform Following String Of Deadly Robberies<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"