House Approves Amendment To Enable Marijuana Businesses To Work With Financial Institutions

Late Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. House said that banks should accept marijuana-related money. 

Currently dispensaries and marijuana farms are forced to hire private security firms to facilitate the transfer of capital within their growing businesses. This decision represents the lifting of a major burden if companies were able to transact with banking institutions.  

President Obama has said previously, "I smoked pot as a kid and I view it as a bad habit and vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person through a big chunk of my adult life."

The amendment to the spending bill being proposed says: "None of the funds made available in this Act may be used, with respect to the States of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, or Wisconsin or the District of Columbia, to prohibit, penalize, or otherwise discourage a financial institution from providing financial services to an entity solely because the entity is a manufacturer, producer, or person that participates in any business or organized activity that involves handling marijuana or marijuana products and engages in such activity pursuant to a law established by a State or a unit of local government."

Check out the Benzinga 420 Maijuana Index for pricing updates on the industry.