Marijuana legalization advocate Cher Neufer queued up at a Cincinnati post office in mid-June expecting to mail a t-shirt to a donor.
Instead, she was met with the message every shopper dreads: card denied.
A few phone calls later, Neufer discovered that PNC had closed the account for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana’s Ohio branch without notice, leaving all seven of its regional chapters without access to funds.
Over the next several weeks, Neufer – the organization’s director – approached five banks, including Chase Bank, Huntington and Farmers National Bank, before finding a Wells Fargo branch over two hours from her hometown of Lodi that would accept NORML’s business.
PNC also closed the account of the Washington-based Marijuana Policy Project, another marijuana legalization advocacy group, in June.
“PNC does not comment on customer accounts,” said Diane Zappas, director of corporate reputation. “As a federally regulated financial institution, PNC complies with all applicable federal regulations.”
Neufer, who founded the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws’ Ohio branch in 2001, said she thinks they are afraid of running afoul of the federal government.Since marijuana is classified by the federal government as a schedule one drug, people in the cannabis industry cannot use banks without risking having their assets seized by the government, even in states where medical and recreational cannabis use has been legalized, forcing them to deal entirely in cash.
While it’s unusual for bank accounts to be shut down, several new chapters of NORML have had difficulty getting banked in states with and without legalized marijuana, said National Political Director Justin Strekal.
“This is something coming from an understandable concern regarding the Trump administration and Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ open hostility to marijuana,” Strekal told The Enquirer.
It’s unclear if federal law is really forcing bankers’ hands when it comes to the marijuana industry, said Taylor West, deputy director of the National Cannabis Industry Association. Medical and recreational use of marijuana is still illegal at the federal level, but she said there has been no indication that federal regulators will actively pursue banks that serve state-regulated cannabis businesses.
Strekal described NORML, a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization, as the “Ralph Nader” of the marijuana industry. He said they often support policies that run contrary to “Big Marijuana’s” interests, such as lower barriers to entry that would increase competition.
“A lot of businesses won’t give us money and very much don’t like us,” Strekal said.
Despite being forced to switch banks for receiving donations from legal marijuana businesses, Marijuana Policy Project Communications Manager Morgan Fox said there is an overall trend of banks becoming more comfortable with these groups.
Fox said he couldn’t identify MPP’s new bank.
credit:cincinnati.com
