PUSH TO PROTECT BANKS ON LEGAL POT BUSINESSES

Fifteen U.S. representatives, including seven from California, are
urging the Treasury Department to say it won't "target or pursue"
national banks that do business with medical marijuana distributors
operating legally under state laws.

In a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the lawmakers
said, "dispensary operators are finding it increasingly difficult to
maintain accounts with financial institutions."

That may be true of national banks, but many state-chartered banks
are happy to do business with medical marijuana dispensaries, as long
as they are operating legally.

Medical marijuana is legal in 14 states, including California, and
many more states - out of compassion or the need for new tax revenues
- - are considering legalizing it. California voters will decide in
November whether to make it legal for recreational use as well.

But growing and distributing marijuana is still illegal under federal
law and for that reason, many national banks won't do business with
medical marijuana distributors. Bank of America, Chase and U.S. Bank
all confirmed that they won't do business with medical marijuana
distributors, even in states where it is legal.

Wells Fargo said it stopped opening new accounts with medical
marijuana dispensaries this month and is reviewing its existing
accounts with them. "In general, we follow federal, not state, law,"
says Wells spokesman Chris Hammond. "The decision was made to have a
consistent standard."

State vs. federal

National banks have often claimed that they are exempt from state
consumer protection and other laws because federal laws pre-empt
them. In many cases, the courts have agreed with them. So it could
appear inconsistent for a national bank to claim exemption from some
state laws yet agree to do business under others.

Federal pre-emption is a big issue in the financial reform bill being
debated in Congress.

Some Bay Area dispensaries say they've had no problem opening
business checking accounts.

Mark Samuel, manager of Medithrive in San Francisco, says he banks
with "one of the big boys," but wouldn't name which one.

Rose Muniz, manager of Blue Heaven Coastside, says, "Wells Fargo has
been a big supporter of the Blue Heaven Collective. They welcomed our
business." (The dispensary's future is in doubt after it was denied a
business license this week.)

Erik Miller, manager of the Berkeley Patient's Care Collective, says
his operation has a checking account with San Francisco-based
Mechanics Bank "and they're great."

Rauly Butler, a senior vice president with Mechanics Bank, says
"several cannabis clubs bank with us" and they are treated like any
other business.

"We have to verify the ownership, who the (check) signers are. We
have to make sure they are permitted to do business. We verify any
filings with the state of California, the articles of incorporation,"
he says.

He says the clubs "are a little more work" than other clients because
"they are cash intensive. They come to the bank more often to make
deposits."

His bank will not do credit card processing for cannabis clubs or
other businesses that have a higher risk of charge backs, "but there
are processors who will," Butler says.

Mechanics Bank will not make loans to medical marijuana purveyors and
doesn't know of any that will.

Community Bank of the Bay in Oakland also has "a fair number (of
dispensaries) banking with us," says its CEO, Brian Garrett.

"We used to have more," he says, but a few years ago, the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corp. "made it very difficult for us to bank them,"
and he closed some accounts.

Compliance

Since then, he hasn't had any extra attention from regulators. "We
are in strict compliance. We follow all the rules about suspicious
activities and large currency transactions," Garrett says.

Some medical marijuana shops say they have been dropped by banks but
were able to take their business elsewhere.

Lisa Molyneux, founder of Greenway Compassionate Relief in Santa
Cruz, says she originally had an account with BofA. But a few years
ago, "they suddenly closed my account, sent me a check and said
because of our business, they didn't want to do business anymore.
Then I opened one with Wells Fargo, who I am currently with. We are
waiting to see what happens next."

Steve DeAngelo, executive director of the Harborside Health Center in
Oakland, says his business had an account with California Bank &
Trust. "After two-plus years, the bank's parent company in Utah found
out the nature of our business and said we had to remove all funds
from their institution within 30 days," he says.

Harborside was able to move its account to Sterling Bank in San
Francisco. Butler says Harborside was also forced to switch credit
card processors around the same time last fall.

"We did $20 million in gross sales last year. We are very, very
solvent. But we were never given the kind of access to financial
services another business would," he says.

DeAngelo says he would like to get a business line of credit for
emergencies. And as more states legalize medical marijuana, "I would
like to establish an ongoing relationship with a national bank.
Unfortunately, we haven't been able to do that."

In their letter to Geithner, the lawmakers said that without access
to financial services, some pot dispensaries could be forced to go to
an all-cash business, which could pose a threat to public safety and
tax collection.

Last October, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder put out a statement
saying that federal prosecutors should not use their limited
resources to pursue individuals who are in "clear and unambiguous
compliance" with state laws providing for the use of medical marijuana.

The lawmakers who signed the letter are hoping Geithner will make a
similar statement, saying the Treasury Department will not target
banks that have accounts with legal marijuana operations for
violating money laundering or other national banking laws.

Letter signers

The signers included Democrats Barney Frank of Massachusetts, Jared
Polis of Colorado, and Sam Farr, Pete Stark, Lois Capps, Brad
Sherman, Lisa Sanchez and Zoe Lofgren of California. Two Republicans,
Ron Paul of Texas and Dana Rohrabacher of California, also signed.

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