Prosecutors across the United States have agreed to formally recognize the release of the Cannabis Public Health and Safety Financial Service Certification, which was announced in the Attorney General’s Alliance (AGA) Cannabis Project Conference In Denver, Colorado from April 20-21.
The certification serves as a way to help “law enforcement and government regulators” identify legal cannabis businesses from illegal operations, and also addresses banking issues. “In the absence of federal regulation and oversight, the need for independent certification versus self-certification is imminent. As the cannabis industry grows, we must have bank guarantees to mitigate illicit and criminal behavior. This is an important first step to provide guidance to state attorneys general and lawmakers as we file industry level,” AGA CEO Karen White said. “The certification brings banking and financial transparency to ensure the integrity of the monetary system of cannabis and cannabis banking institutions.”
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas gave testimony at the conference as well. “It is critical to know where cannabis and cannabis operators are dealing with banks to maintain a level of compliance,” Balderas said. “This certification will give regulators that insight. In addition, cannabis and cannabis operators can uphold their financial and operational integrity as they subject themselves to voluntary audits.”
a beta program Certification was completed in October 2021, which was the culmination of the work of ASTM International, an organization with more than 900 members and 28 different country governments. “I am happy to see that what was envisioned over a year ago has been completed,” White said last year. “A program like this that provides support to law enforcement and helps with issues related to public health and safety, consumer protection, and the rule of law is essential in this mature industry where compliance is a hallmark.”
Banking remains a major problem in the cannabis industry. Recently, the House of Representatives passed SAFE Banking Act in FebruaryAnd while there has been continued support for banking legislation, full support from Congress has yet to come. The need for secure banking services is essential, especially in light of recent events in Washington State where multiple cannabis dispensary robberies have occurred recently. Two minors, 15 and 16 years old, Infirmary employee Jordan Brown was murderedwho worked at the World of Weed in Tacoma, and is also responsible for several other burglaries.
The SAFE Banking Act was first introduced by Ed Perlmutter in 2013, at a time when only Washington and Colorado had legalized recreational cannabis. On April 19, Perlmutter wrote a letter to Majority Leader Charles Schumer, Senator Booker, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, and Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Sherrod Brown. “The Safe Banking Act (SAFE) is an immediate solution to taking money off our streets and ensuring that legitimate and legal state businesses can operate like any other type of business, particularly the small, minority-owned cannabis businesses that have been disproportionately affected by the lack of banking services, ” Perlmutter Books. “It will also make our communities safer from the increased risks of burglaries facing cannabis businesses and employees that continue to occur, including three people who died during burglaries in one week last month in Washington state.”
Perlmutter urges those he addresses to adopt SAFE Banking. “We share the same goals to fully reform federal cannabis laws. We cannot let our fight for comprehensive cannabis reform derail progress this year. This will be at the expense of thousands of state law firms, their employees, and the safety of our communities,” letter. “As you work through the summer to finalize comprehensive legalization of cannabis, I am asking you and your colleagues to take the first step in reforming our cannabis laws and pass the Safe Banking Act into the America Computing Act or as a separate law as soon as possible.”
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