WASHINGTON – A Durango cannabis business owner said that the recent passage of legislation that would allow legally operating cannabis businesses access to banking services would provide significant benefits.
Ken Aab, general manager of Rocky Mountain High Dispensary in Durango, told The Durango Herald he had experienced a takeover robbery at a different store and believes that the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act would minimize the risk of future robberies.
“Logistics of cash is difficult in general, not to mention, especially when you’re talking the numbers that we’re talking about, no one likes to sit on six figures of cash,” he said. “It’s not a very comfortable situation.”
The Senate Banking Committee passed the SAFER Banking Act by a vote of 14-9 last week. The act, co-sponsored by Colorado Sens. John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, would allow cannabis businesses to access bank accounts, credit cards and checks without federal regulatory risks.
Most businesses operate exclusively in cash, and the legislation would reduce their vulnerability to crime while ensuring access to financial services for those legally operating under state or tribal law.
According to a report by the Denver Collaborative Approach in 2022, burglary or attempted burglary accounted for 96% of marijuana industry-related crimes and accounted for 6% of all reported business burglaries.
“Forcing legal cannabis businesses into cash-only operations creates more opportunity for crime,” Hickenlooper said in a news statement. “This vote brings us one step closer to the entire nation following Colorado’s lead.”
Beyond reducing crime, Aab said the act would expand business services by being able to sell items online, make smoother and easier employee payments, and reduce operational costs by no longer relying on third parties to process card transactions.
“Right now, we can take debit cards, but there’s a fee because we’re not taking it like a restaurant,” he said. “If you were buying food at a restaurant, that restaurant is the one taking the money, that’s why there’s no fees associated with it. We can’t do that, we have to use a third party. So it’ll lower the cost for doing the stuff that we’re currently doing.”
The SAFER Banking Act is an update to the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act introduced by Hickenlooper and Bennet with a bipartisan group of senators in April. According to a news statement from Hickenlooper, the original piece of legislation had passed the House of Representatives six times.
Changes in the updated piece of legislation include encouraging local banking relationships and expanding Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation surveys to cover small and mid-sized businesses.
whansen@durangoherald.com
