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Banking Problems Could Kill Medical Marijuana In Colorado By Steve Elliott TokeOfTheTown.com Colorado medical marijuana business owners are desperately writing letters to every bank in the country asking if they can please, oh please, just have a bank account. About 150 dispensary owners across the state are looking for banks that will take their accounts, said Tanya Garduno, president of the Colorado Springs Medical Cannabis Council and owner of Medical Cannabis Center, reports Monica Mendoza at InsuranceNewsNet. The medical marijuana industry has already survived regulations, licensing, security and thick stacks of almost impenetrable rules and legalese. But the banking issue "could be the deal breaker," Garduno said. "We have to account for everything -- sales, patient lists -- trying to put this together with no bank could really kill us." The last bank in Colorado to openly welcome dispensaries' business -- the Colorado Springs State Bank -- sent notice to the shops almost two months ago that they had until the end of September to clear out their accounts. That ban is owned by parent company Herring Bank, based in Texas. "Everyone is trying to make it work on a cash basis," Garduno said. "It's going to be a funky next three months. I'm sure there will be folks that will shut down." Medical marijuana businesses in Colorado
National News Springs have generated about $23 million in sales and contributed $580,533 in sales taxes so far this year. That's a 52 percent increase over last year's numbers, and a sign that the industry continues to grow. But most bankers won't touch medical marijuana dispensaries with a 10-foot pole. Banks fear federal charges of money laundering and drug trafficking. While use and sale of medical marijuana are legal in Colorado, the federal government does not recognize any legal use for cannabis. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), one of three banking regulators, hasn't issued guidance for banks doing business with medical marijuana dispensaries. But federal law does require banks to report "suspicious activity." And in June, U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole issued a memo to U.S. Attorneys in medical marijuana states saying "Persons who are in the business of cultivating, selling or distributing marijuana, and those who knowingly facilitate such activities, are in violation of the Controlled Substances Act, regardless of state law." Colorado dispensary owners are planning to fight. They plan to push for changes in federal law to take marijuana off Schedule I, which officially means it has no accepted medical uses, a high potential for abuse and addiction, and is too dangerous to use even under medical supervision -- you know, like heroin. (Even cocaine and methamphetamine are considered by the U.S. federal government to be Schedule II drugs -- officially "less dangerous" than marijuana.) The dispensary owners and supporters want changes in banking rules that would allow banks to work with medical marijuana businesses without fear of conflicting with federal regulations. And when the Colorado Legislature goes into session in January, they will push for a change in state law that would allow them to open their own bank, one that does not require federal insurance. "There is a slight chance they will pass," Black said. "But, I think we are knocking at the door." Without bank accounts, dispensary owners don't have access to ATM machines and are paying bills in cash or are buying prepaid credit cards. The dispensaries will be begging for a bank until federal laws change, according to Garduno. "We need to cut off the short term bleeding," Garduno said. "We will call every bank in the country to find a bank to give us a shot." Used by permission from TokeOfTheTown.com. Copyright 2011 Village Voice Media.
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Pot Card Holder Sues Over Gun Rights
Cannabis Connection
UNH Forensic Botanist Sets Up National Databank For Marijuana DNA From University of New Haven
The U.S. government unconstitutionally prohibits people who hold state-issued medical marijuana cards from buying guns, says a medical technician who was not allowed to buy a gun for self-defense. S. Rowan Wilson sued the U.S. attorney general and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Federal Court, challenging Section 922(g)(3) of the federal criminal code, which "prohibits law-abiding adults who have obtained medical marijuana cards pursuant to state law from lawfully purchasing what the Supreme Court has called 'the quintessential self-defense weapon' and 'the most popular weapon chosen by Americans for self-defense in the home,'" (citing District of Columbia v Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 128 S. Ct. at 2818.) Wilson, a medical tech and professional caregiver who holds a master's degree and wants to go to med school to become an osteopath, obtained a medical marijuana card so she could use the drug to treat severe menstrual cramps. She tried to buy a Smith & Wesson .357 magnum this month in Moundhouse, Nev., but the dealer told her he "was prohibited from selling her the firearm, any other firearm, or even any ammunition" because she had a medical marijuana card.
A University of New Haven forensic scientist is setting up a national databank for marijuana DNA that will permit law enforcement to track where the drug originated when an arrest is made. Heather Miller Coyle, an associate professor in the Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences, is a forensic botanist. She also has developed a new method for collecting the marijuana‘s genetic fingerprint that makes it easy for law enforcement on the scene of a case to collect the samples. The DNA mapping initiative will allow law enforcement personnel for the first time to track where marijuana came from and link it to criminal organizations such as drug trafficking organizations in Mexico, growers in Canada or gangs in the United States. The database would be similar to the one run by the FBI for humans. That database, called CODIS, or Combined DNA Index System, allows law enforcement to collect samples from a crime scene and evaluate the DNA profile against a computerized database of samples to assist in the identification of suspects in a crime.
The dealer had received a notice from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which "specifically forbade the sale of any firearms or ammunition to any person possessing a state-issued medical marijuana registry card," according to the complaint. "This blanket ban violates the constitutional rights of thousands of responsible, law-abiding American citizens," Wilson says. "Defendants have prohibited a certain class of law-abiding, responsible citizens from exercising their right to keep and bear arms," and have enacted policies with the "specific intent of denying the 2nd Amendment rights of persons who have registered to use medical marijuana pursuant to and in accordance with state law. "Defendants have deliberately banned such persons from purchasing handguns, or firearms of any kind, from federally licensed firearms dealers." Wilson says her severe menstrual pain "is often debilitating," and leads to "further painful side effects, such as severe nausea and cachexi," or wasting syndrome. She says she obtained her medical marijuana card after she "met with dozens of patients that have communicated to her their positive experiences with medical cannabis." "Most of the individuals Ms. Wilson has encountered certainly do not fit the commonly portrayed, narrow-minded stereotype of a marijuana user," the complaint states. Cont. on Page 14
“Such a databank and signature mark would be a welcome tool for police and law enforcement agencies,” said Frank Limon, New Haven chief of police. “It’s probable, in some cases, that conspirators of the overall operation may escape investigation and prosecution. The link between production and distribution would aid us in establishing conspiracy cases against the whole operation – not just the dealers and buyers. This would effectively connect the dots to street level narcotics distribution.” The marijuana database Coyle is developing would give police an investigative lead to trace the origin of the marijuana and help lead to the human sources for its distribution. “Plant DNA is like the DNA found in humans – it retains its lifelong genetic profile,” says Coyle, whose work on the project included UNH students Lindsay Allgeier, Jennifer Nabozny, and Nicholas Shirley, among others. Matching DNA to plants grown on public lands in California, for example, could demonstrate that the crop was planted by people with ties to specific drug organizations . “If one person has a suitcase of marijuana and another person has bags of it, we will be able to tell Cont. on Page 22