Pot Banking May Endure Senate Stimulus Scrutiny: Cannabis Weekly

  • Broader legislation could give cover for Republicans
  • ‘In the best position to become law since its introduction’

An employee arranges a display of cannabis at a dispensary in Oakland, California.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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Although President Donald Trump said the latest coronavirus relief package passed by the House would be “DOA” in the Senate, there’s a real possibility its marijuana banking provisions will survive, according to a prominent Washington cannabis lawyer.

The Heroes Act, as it’s known, includes legislation that would allow banks to service state-legal cannabis companies. The measures have been endorsed by a bipartisan group of 34 attorneys-general, who said the pandemic has only exacerbated health and safety concerns around the handling of cash. Currently, many dispensaries operate on a cash-only basis because they can’t access routine banking services.