State Treasurers Ramp Up Push For SAFE Banking Act

Cannabis News World

Jun 2

State Treasurers Ramp Up Push For SAFE Banking Act
High Times

More than two months after the House of Representatives passed the SAFE Banking Act yet again, pressure is mounting on the U.S. Senate to finally take up the legislation that would allow financial institutions to provide services to cannabis businesses. The latest round of lobbying came last week from a pair of state treasurers: Colorado's Dave Young and Washington's Mike Pellicciotti. The two Democratic officials took to Twitter on Friday to sound the alarm on the dangers posed to cannabis dispensaries in the absence of the reform. In Washington state, a spate of robberies of cannabis stores has underscored how vulnerable such establishments are due to the amount of cash on hand. "Colorado weed stores, along with other states with legal cannabis businesses, are headed into their busiest week of the year," Young tweeted, alluding to this week's 4/20 festivities, "yet these businesses must dangerously operate in a cash-based world. Let's pass the #SAFEBankingAct this #fourtwenty." Pellicciotti's official account, meanwhile, shared a news story from last week detailing an armed robbery of a cannabis shop that ended in a chase with Washington State Patrol. "Another alarming example of why #Congress needs to pass the #SAFEBankingACT and allow access banking for a safer #cannabis retail industry," the tweet from Pellicciotti's account said. Pellicciotti went to Washington, D.C. last month to meet with members of his state's Congressional delegation, and to convey the urgency surrounding the bill. Last month, the Seattle Times reported that there had been nearly 70 armed robberies of cannabis shops in the state this year, doubling the totals for all of last year and 2020. "You rob the places where the cash is," Pellicciotti said after his lobbying trip, as quoted by local television station KING5. "These robberies are tragic. But these robberies are also preventable." "You can't…