Opinion: It’s hard to sympathize with the U.S. marijuana companies cast out by banks – The Globe and Mail

Gus Carlson is a U.S.-based columnist for The Globe and Mail.

The U.S. cannabis industry got a reminder last week that being legit can still be a drag, as Mastercard asked financial institutions to stop accepting transactions for the purchase of the drug using its debit cards.

Because U.S. federal law prohibits the sale, possession and use of marijuana in all its forms, Mastercard said purchases were not allowed on its systems. That applies even when customers use bank cards and personal identification numbers to access their own cash to buy cannabis in the 23 states and the District of Columbia, where the drug is legal for adult recreational or medical use. Earlier this year, Paychex, the national payroll company, told cannabis companies it would no longer provide services to the industry.

In simple terms, the move by Mastercard, whose services are delivered on a national scale, signals the company’s intent to obey the existing law of the entire land, not just parts of it, and reduce its exposure and liability to the country’s bifurcated treatment of the cannabis business in the process.

Industry players say the Mastercard restrictions are another hurdle on the road to legitimacy that will hurt growth, already burdened by taxes, fees and regulatory restrictions at state, county and local levels, as well a political pushback in half the country.

“We are taking a situation and making it harder for cannabis businesses to facilitate legal operations,” Dawne Morris, co-founder of California-based Proteus 420, which makes point-of-sale and inventory software for cannabis companies, said in an interview with MJBizDaily, an industry trade publication.

No matter where you stand on legalization of the drug itself, it’s hard to sympathize with an industry that knew going in it faced a bumpy road with the country split politically on the issue and the prospect of a federal law legalizing the sale and use of the drug still under debate. If you run any small business, these are the sorts of downsides you factor into your strategy, including whether or not to enter a market at all.

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What did the cannabis folks expect? Marijuana companies shouldn’t be surprised when companies such as Mastercard and Paychex take the stands they do. The federal law has always been on the books and presents just as much risk to these companies as it does to the cannabis companies affected by their decisions not to serve the industry.

Maybe the argument for federal legalization will gain traction at some point, but until that happens, the industry should not expect state legalization to somehow supersede federal law. Again, any small business regardless of the industry would not presume to enjoy such an exception.

For advocates of legalization, the Mastercard move may be a wake-up call to rekindle a push for reform. One major piece of legislation that would benefit the commercial operations of industry is the SAFE Banking Act, which would allow banks to serve marijuana companies without incurring the wrath of the feds. Supporters say the law would harmonize state and federal laws and provide guidance to financial institutions on engaging the industry.

But even in states where the drug is legal – such as New York – many communities are pushing back on having depositories in their towns. One argument is that such facilities would attract undesirable out-of-town elements and change the complexions of their communities.

Another concern, voiced by the most ardent detractors of legalization, is that if indeed marijuana is a gateway drug to more powerful ones, wider and easier availability will exacerbate the growing problem of heroin, oxycodone and fentanyl, already at epidemic proportions among U.S. suburban youth.

It will be interesting to see whether, barring sharp movement toward federal reform, other companies, including financial institutions, follow in the footsteps of Mastercard and Paychex, and what the fallout might be – including industry attrition and consolidation that may bolster the health of the illicit market legalization was meant to combat.

For people such as Ms. Morris, it is a real concern that Mastercard’s move is a step backward on that front: “What this means is moving into heavier cash processes again, which increases theft, and potential for more [illicit] market operators to move back into a space prior to legalization.”

At the very least, it is another setback for an industry still struggling in the U.S. to shed the “counter” part of its counterculture brand identity.