New Cannabis and Hemp Certification Confirmed by Attorney General Alliance

Attorneys General from across the US agreed to officially launch the Public Health & Safety Cannabis Financial Service Certification announced at the Attorney General Alliance (AGA) Cannabis Projects Conference April 20-21 in Denver, Colorado to acknowledge.

The certification is designed to help both “law enforcement agencies and government regulators” distinguish legal cannabis businesses from illegal businesses, and also addresses banking issues. “Without federal regulation and oversight, the need for independent rather than self-certification is imminent. As the cannabis industry grows, we need bank collateral to mitigate illegal and criminal behavior. This is an important first step in providing guidance to attorney generals and lawmakers while raising the bar for the industry,” said Karen White, executive director of AGA. “The certification brings banking and financial transparency to ensure the security of the monetary system for institutions that bank hemp and cannabis.”

New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas also presented certifications at the conference. “Knowing where cannabis and hemp operators are banking is critical to maintaining some level of compliance,” Balderas said. “This certification will give regulators that insight. Additionally, hemp and cannabis operators can stand by their own financial and operational integrity by undergoing voluntary audits.”

A pilot program for certification was completed in October 2021, culminating in the work of ASTM International, an organization with more than 900 members and 28 different state governments. “I’m pleased to see that what was planned over a year ago has been completed,” White said last year. “A program like this that supports law enforcement and assists with issues related to public health and safety, consumer protection and the rule of law is necessary in this evolving industry where compliance is a differentiator.”

Banking continues to be a major problem in the cannabis industry. Most recently, the House of Representatives passed the SAFE Banking Act in February, and while there has been continued support for banking legislation, full support from Congress has yet to materialize. The need for safe banking is necessary, especially in light of recent events in Washington state, where several cannabis dispensary robberies have recently taken place. Two minors, ages 15 and 16, killed pharmacy clerk Jordan Brown, who worked at World of Weed in Tacoma, and are also responsible for numerous other robberies.

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 Treasury Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, and Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown. “The SAFE Banking Act is an immediate solution to get cash off our streets and ensure that government-legal, legitimate businesses can operate like any other type of business, particularly small and minority-owned cannabis businesses that are disproportionately impacted by a lack of banks Services are affected,” Perlmutter wrote. “It will also make our communities safer from the increased risk of robberies of cannabis businesses and employees that continue to occur, including three people who died in robberies in a week in Washington state last month.”

Perlmutter appeals to its addressees to adopt the SAFE Banking Act. “We share the same goals, which is to completely reform federal cannabis laws. We must not delay our fight for comprehensive cannabis reform this year. This would harm thousands of government-legal businesses, their employees and the safety of our communities,” he concluded in his letter. “As you work to finalize comprehensive cannabis legislation over the summer, I urge you and your colleagues to take the first step in reforming our cannabis laws and enacting the SAFE Banking Act as part of the America COMPETES Act or as a separate piece of legislation as soon as possible. ”