Although the sale of marijuana is a federal crime, the number of US banks working with pot businesses, now sanctioned in many states, is growing, up 45 percent in the last year alone.
Still, marijuana merchants say there are not nearly enough banks willing to take their cash. So many dispensaries resort to stashing cash in storage units, back offices and armored vans.
Proponents believe the Nov. 8 election could tip the balance in favor of liberalizing federal marijuana laws, a move seen as key to getting risk-averse banks off the sidelines.
Measures on ballots in California, Florida and seven other states would bring to 34 the number of states sanctioning pot for medical or recreational use, or both. That could push annual sales, by one estimate, to $23 billion.
The prospect for a market of such scale is adding urgency to calls for a national approach to marijuana that expands banking options. Law enforcement and Federal Reserve officials have expressed concern about the fraud and crime associated with un-bankable cash.
Nearly 600 dispensary robberies have been reported in Denver since recreational pot was legalized in Colorado three years ago.
“There’s not a single human being who thinks there is any benefit at all in forcing marijuana business to be conducted on an all-cash basis,” said Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat from Oregon who has called for the decriminalization of marijuana since coming to Congress in 1996.

Got bank? Election could create flood of marijuana cash with no place to go
A variety of medicinal marijuana buds in jars are pictured at Los Angeles Patients & Caregivers Group dispensary in West Hollywood, California US, October 18, 2016. (Reuters)
Reuters
Monday 31 October 2016
Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 09:52 - GMT 06:52
DAY | WEEK |
-
20902 Views Coronavirus: Dubai temporarily postpones Pfizer vaccine campaign amid global shortage
-
9747 Views Saudi Arabia’s PIF to invest 3 trillion riyals over next 10 years: Crown Prince
-
3111 Views Saudi Arabia’s King Salman issues several new royal decrees
-
1792 Views Coronavirus: Dubai’s new restrictions disappoint hospitals; entertainers struggle on
-
1154 Views US will help Saudi Arabia defend against attacks on its territory: State Department
-
749 Views In numbers: Saudi Arabia’s PIF lists 6 goals for next 5 years
-
20902 Views Coronavirus: Dubai temporarily postpones Pfizer vaccine campaign amid global shortage
-
19224 Views Coronavirus: Number of new UAE COVID-19 cases reaches record high
-
16813 Views Airstrikes pound Iran-backed militias south of Iraq’s Baghdad: Reports
-
10886 Views Coronavirus: Dubai orders hospitals to cancel surgeries amid surge in COVID-19 cases
-
8209 Views Coronavirus: Dubai suspends live entertainment permits as COVID-19 cases surge
-
7682 Views Coronavirus: Dubai's latest COVID-19 rules for weddings, restaurants, gyms, concerts
SHOW MORE