Pretty sure it is…
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Not so fast. As I understand it, don’t even the legal weed places have issues with banks not wanting to do business with them? Like fear of having assets pulled if the feds decide - “Meh, fuck states rights, lets seize all that ‘legal’ weed money.” I don’t know if that includes credit/debit machines, but I thought it did (and maybe this has changed more recently, but last I read it was still a problem."
If I was rich and wanted to get richer, I would get a group of good lawyers and take the gamble making the First National Bank of Mary.
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It’s just a transparent divide and conquer strategy anyway. I don’t want to pay for someone’s sex change/drunken accident/health problems caused by their lifestyle, because I don’t think I’ll ever need that, and of course anything I do need should still be free. It’s a good way to make British people agree to strip the NHS and turn on each other.
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You know what they say about Freudian slips. You say one thing but mean your mother.
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That’s true. There was a local (California) article on how all of the dispensaries show up in Sacramento all the time to pay taxes with giant bags/suitcases of cash because they can’t run their proceeds through the banks. The article was how this creates a safety problem for the dispensaries and the clerks at the state franchise tax board (who have to store all of this money every day).
Not that I would know personally (cough) but the dispensaries seem to charge in cash normally when a transaction occurs.
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Still have to pay in cash in WA.
There are no banks for legit cannabusiness. Just a couple of credit unions. No payment card processing, no credit, no accounts with interest.
Pot stores typically buy and operate an ATM they keep stocked with their own cash, and have to play musical chairs with the money.
It may be legal in Washington, but if the DEA decided to just take the pot store’s supply and money, there’s no way to stop it.
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as a boring middle-class, middle-age guy? i suggest you try this:
go to your bank.
attempt to pull out $9000 in cash
watch the mayhem that ensues.
yes, anything over a certain threshold is now considered “cause for suspicion”
situation #2. Attempt to purchase anything at a retail location with $10k in cash.
they will walk away from the sale, rather than fill out the government required paperwork.
damnit people, Orwell meant 1984 to be a warning, not an instruction manual.
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There was an attempt in Colorado to set up a bank specifically for dealing with marijuana businesses, but it was blocked by the Federal Reserve.
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Yup. I remember listening to an episode of Planet Money awhile back going over all the shit legit cannabusiness has to deal with in Washington and comparing it to the setup in British Columbia.
In BC businesses can get bank accounts, loans, lines of credit, payment services, insurance, basic financial stuff. No fear of the government just arbitrarily taking it all and tossing them in prison.
It’s basically the exact opposite in WA. Most pot stores have at least two safes. One for the product, and one for the money. And sometimes they’re stuck storing their money themselves when the credit union or bank gets cold feet and stops accepting deposits.
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The feds control the banking laws, though. I’ve read many a story about properly licensed marijuana businesses that have to use cash because the credit card companies won’t touch them. Which means that they store a lot of cash on the premises. Which means they have to take extraordinary precautions against getting robbed. which brings us back to Cass Susstein’s original point-- a society that uses plastic to the exclusion of cash doesn’t get mugged.
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Yes, the problem is that all banks have to follow Federal law. It’s not enough to be located in Hippy Dippy Colorado or wherever.
When I was little I wanted to move to Colorado and pan for gold and live in a house with a bunch of cats.
Still kinda want to do that, only with a couple dogs.
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I guess I’m livin’ the dream … except for the Colorado part and the panning for gold.
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At least you will have someone miss you when you’re gone…
Austin, Texas had a few tries at community currency, but here’s one that is still going strong in upstate New York:
http://www.communitycurrency.org/
“The economic system is deeply flawed and has served to concentrate money, land and power in the hands of a few. The concentration of economic power and ecological devastation have heralded the collapse of many civilizations and empires. At this time in history, humanity must choose between the health and well-being of our planet, humanity, and other lifeforms, or the further enrichment of the ruling elite. The choice is clear. The World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization, World Economic Forum, and “Trade Agreements,” such as the Multilateral Agreement on Investments (MAI) blatantly favor the rich over all environmental and human rights concerns (see www.tradewatch.org). Civil society is now engaged in a tremendous struggle against these deadly institutions which value money over life.”
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Thank you! I’m a fan of the Ithaca project … and others. There was a similar project in Missoula.
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Ow! Ow! Owwwwwwww!
ow, dangit
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Thanks to some recent wheeling and dealing with vehicles on Craigslist as well as remodeling the house I’ve had occasion to do both recently, and it was not a problem. Maybe I just deal with less shitty banks/retailers?
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Tons of work. Lots of moving parts. One guy here tried hard to make it all work for a few years, called it "Dillo Hours."1
In hindsight wrt Austin’s foray, some rules I learned as a part-time participant:
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Must name it “hours” and not “money” or “dollars” or “cents” etc. per [U.S.] federal rules.
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Must keep the system orderly and have many layers of redundancy (daily data backups of tracking participants’ balances, accountability and transparency, etc.).
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Must get a critical mass of participants who have skills people actually need or want.2 A group of participants who are mostly personal chefs, massage therapists, self-styled writers/editors and singer-songwriters will not fix my 1999 Toyota. They will not help me with house plumbing problems. Retailers need to accept the local currency in case you need something like a drill bit or socket wrench and you can’t barter for it.
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People have to participate in good faith and not try to game the system.
Barter is nice when it works. Barter has some great traditions behind it. Transition Towns often mention barter and swap meets and “barter boxes.” What’s in yours? Does is change seasonally? Goods? Services? Both? Do you have something that someone needs? Will we end up doing three-way and four-way swaps like people had to do in the Soviet Union just for everyone to get the oranges and sausages and underwear and bars of soap all sorted to the people who need these? (eeek!)
Time and money3… a million epitaphs, epigrams, wise sayings, quotations on these two dang things, and our ongoing human relationship to them.
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http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2006-01-20/325866/ and https://www.uco.edu/la/political-science/files/Local%20Currency%20Systems%20in%20the%20United%20States.pdf
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http://www.resilience.org/stories/2014-04-23/it-s-money-that-is-killing-the-local-economy
ETA: reformatted for better readability
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[quote=“jerwin, post:52, topic:76394”]
Cass Su[n]stein’s original point-- a society that uses plastic to the exclusion of cash doesn’t get mugged…
[/quote]… by random street criminals. Its denizens merely get reamed by the State.
Dr. Sunstein is not a ‘totalitarian’. He is, however, a very smooth, supercilious authoritarian of the pseudo-liberal persuasion. His beautifully written social prescriptions should be taken with a very liberal dose of salt. I rarely have much sympathy with firebreathing righties who see a goobermint comin’ to take their guns, alurkin’ behind every tree. But, after listen to Sunstein speak a few times, I’ve found myself in weird sympathy with them. He really does have the most sublime contempt for the average schmuck. And altogether too many ideas about how to relieve said schmuck of the burden of his rights, along with the burden his responsibilities.
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