Colorado banks shutting out medical marijuana dispensaries
Colorado Springs Business Journal, Jul 16, 2010 by Amy Gillentine
Medical marijuana dispensaries are bringing in a lot of cash nowadays but are having a tough time finding any place to put it.
That’s because many of the financial institutions doing business in Colorado Springs and elsewhere in Colorado have decided not to do business with the dispensaries.
K.C. Stark, who owns Go Green Cross in downtown, said he’s already had to move his business accounts from two banks.
“Who knows what’s going on? One week, it’s fine to do business with them, the next week it isn’t,” he said. “It’s unprecedented.”
Stark said he feels the banks are discriminating against medical marijuana providers.
“It’s a constant struggle,” he said. “We’ve tried Wells Fargo; we’ve tried the Bank of Broadmoor.”
Not only are they rejecting new account applications, but the banks are also closing the accounts of any customers whom they discover are in the medical marijuana business.
“We’re a nationally chartered bank, and we have to follow federal laws,” explained Steve Helbing, southern Colorado regional president of Wells Fargo, one of the largest banks doing business in the region. “Our attorneys believe this is the best way to follow banking laws and regulations.”
The Bank of Broadmoor declined to discuss its policy, citing the sensitive nature of the issue.
Actually, there are no specific laws barring banks from opening accounts for dispensary owners.
But banks are worried about their image, and they worry that doing business with operations that some in society still view as illicit could hurt their reputations.
Wells Fargo is taking the same approach in all 14 states that have legalized medicinal marijuana, Helbing said.
“It’s still illegal on the federal level, so we have to be careful,” he said. “We will be closing down any accounts that we know are medical marijuana businesses.”
Paradoxically, before it took a closer look at the legal issues, Wells Fargo was once known as the pot-friendly bank, according to online blogs that serve as information hubs for the medical marijuana industry.
Chase bank has also denied accounts to medical marijuana businesses, citing “financial operational and compliance risk.”
Credit unions are following the banks’ lead.
“We are a federally chartered and insured credit union,” said Cathy Grossman, vice president of corporate communications for Ent Federal Credit Union. “We do not allow these types of accounts because we have to adhere to federal law — and marijuana is still illegal at the federal level.”
It’s a problem in every state that has legalized marijuana, and some lawmakers in Congress are now trying to help.
In a recent letter, these legislators asked Timothy Geithner, secretary of the Department of the Treasury, to formally issue a policy “assuring that department priorities do not include targeting or pursing institutions whose account holders are involved in a business ostensibly operating in compliance with a state medical marijuana law.”
Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder, signed the letter, as did seven other members of Congress.
Polis said the banks’ stance don’t serve the public interest.
“The effects of this denial of service include an increased risk to public safety with potential theft or robbery that any cash-only or cash-reliant business faces; a decreased likelihood that medical marijuana vendors will have the ability to accurately account for tax liability; and an affront to fundamental fairness, since forcing businesses to operate with cash exposes the owners to greater legal risk,” the letter said.
Polis’s office said the representative had not heard back from Geithner.
The Colorado Bankers Association, meanwhile, has asked for advice from both state and federal regulators — but hasn’t heard back from them, either
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As inflation increases, what your dollar can
As inflation increases, what your dollar can buy decreases. Inflation causes the value of the dollar in the national and global economy to decrease. The value of the dollar is a measure of how much you can buy with that dollar. For example, a candy bar that costs $2 dollars this year will cost $2.04 next year with a 2% increase in inflation.
Terms to Know
Deflation : This term refers to when the level of prices is decreasing. Deflation is the opposite of inflation.
Hyperinflation : This is when inflation increases substantially and without notice. This usually leads to problems with the nation’s money structure. For example, in 1923 Germany, price levels increased by almost 3000%.
Stagflation : This term refers to the combination of increased unemployment and a flat period in the nation’s economy.
What Causes Inflation
There are many theories about what causes inflation.
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Nobody wants to
Nobody wants to be taking a shower or a bath, cleaning themselves up, only to look up and see a dirty, scummy shower curtain. Unfortunately, your shower curtain is going to get dirty. Being in such damp conditions and with such soap scum build up ? well, you?re going to have a dirty shower curtain on your hands. Luckily, there are some things that you can do to clean up your shower curtain.
You can wash your shower curtain in your basic everyday clothes washer. Just use about 1 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of bleach. Then add white towels and a regular amount of your normal laundry detergent and run the machine.
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Key Lime Pie
Key Lime Pie is another favorite.
Prime One Twelve, located in the converted 1915 Brown?s Hotel, is currently the hottest restaurant on South Beach and is RestaurantPlace.com?s favorite trendy steakhouse and seafood restaurant in Miami. Don?t be surprised to see movie stars, celebrities, and a collection of high priced sport and luxury cars parked in front. Popular for its oversized dry-aged steaks, this Miami restaurant also offers one of the best dining experiences for any seafood lover.
Prime One Twelve?s Menu: The Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail ($7) is a great starter. For a salad, we recommend the ?The Double Wedge? salad ($14), which is iceberg & butter lettuce with applewood smoked bacon with a creamy blue dressing. If you are in the mood for a steak, the 8 oz Filet Mignon ($30) is always cooked to perfection. If you are a seafood lover, we recommend the Soy Marinated Sea Bass ($31) served with baby bok choy and a sweet miso sauce and the Maine Lobster (market price).
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Both young men and young women are
Both young men and young women are afflicted by acne, but women are more likely to have intermittent cases due to the hormonal changes connected with their menstrual cycles, and from makeup. Women are more likely than men to consult a physician for fast acne treatment.
More severe scarring usually responds well to a series of chemical peels over three to four months. If a doctor advocates this type of treatment, the first peels will be 35 per cent glycolic acid peel and gradually work up to a 70 per cent peel. If it is treating severe breakouts in addition to the scars, he or she may choose a salicylic acid peel, which will help clear up acne while treating the scars. It will take three to four months on average to see results.
About The Author
Ling Fong has collected the most valuable and interesting health related articles divided into categories. You can read them on http://www.plainhealth.org/ and http://www.drhealth.org/ – You can also submit your article using the contact form on the site or by contacting the author..
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Remember to keep away from these
Remember to keep away from these blind spots. How do you do this? Keep in mind that if you cannot see the driver in their side mirror, it is very much possible that the driver would not even notice you there.
If in case you are driving in front of a large commercial vehicle like trucks and buses, signal your intentions to maneuver or stop well in advance. This is to warn the driver about what you are about to do so they have ample time to react properly. The thing behind these trucks and buses are that they actually do need more time and distance to maneuver and stop compared to most cars and vehicles.
When it comes to wet roads, remember that these large commercial vehicles are prone to spray a lot of water, and mud around.
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If you?re marketing
If you?re marketing to engineers, & you know they use acronyms, use acronyms. If you?re selling to the CEO, speak in plain English. Just common sense, but so often ignored. If you?re selling b2b, understand that there are multiple decision makers involved. Find a way to speak to them all. Use multiple campaigns if need be.
3) And finally, give your customers more than they expect. It is rare to do business with a company that demonstrates a genuine concern for the actual outcomes that their customers experience as a result of a purchase.
This is very different than simply being committed to the satisfactory performance of your product or service. You build rapport by showing your prospects exactly how what you?re selling ?fits in? to what they are already doing.
In the final analysis, your prospects & customers should feel like they know you as a person from your marketing & advertising.
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What we avoid today still tends
What we avoid today still tends to pop up later in life. If we aren’t paying attention to our finances, it will show in the future. If we’re racking up debt today, it will come home to roost in the future. If we’re not doing proper estate planning, somebody is going to get it in the nose in the future. These things don’t go away because we’re pre-occupied with our shoe laces.
But what a difference a little attention makes! To be on the other side of the avoided issue, knowing it has been taken care of. Knowing we’re now steadily increasing our net worth instead of going in the hole. Knowing our family is taken care of if we die. Knowing we’ll open a gift of savings in the future, not a gift of debt. Knowing it REALLY wasn’t all that scary once we turned our attention to it and dealt with it face on.
The first step to managing the financial issues we’re avoiding, though, is to know what it is we’re avoiding.
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Try the following
Try the following exercise to appreciate how to run more efficiently.
1. Sit on the edge of a table so the whole of your upper legs down to the knees are in contact.
2. Bring back your left leg until it is underneath the table and then let it go so it swings forward. It is important to let it go and not to swing it forward yourself.
3. Let alternate legs swing with minimal effort (just give them a little nudge) and think of each leg as a pendulum. If you are experiencing the need to make them swing by using your hamstrings or quadriceps, think of the space at the back of your knee joint and let go from there.
The same applies to using the shoulders and arms when running. Let?s try a similar experiment with your arms.
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A LOT OF UNWANTED
A LOT OF UNWANTED FILES.
When you uninstall an item of software, there are generally a number of redundant files left behind to clutter up your hard drive.
Over the course of a year or two they can be using valuable hard drive space that would be better reserved for more important things.
These files are backups that are generated when software is installed, the reason is not important. All that we need to know is that when the software is un-installed they are no longer required.
To remove them and free up drive space is a simple procedure.
If you are using Windows 98 – ME – or 2000.
Click on Start>Search>For files or folders.
Enter your search criteria in this case it is .bak (don?t forget the dot before bak)
Click on the ?Find now? button.
When the search is finished you should see a number of .bak files in the results window.
Look carefully for any files marked as ?Config.bak? or ?System.bak? It is not advisable to erase these files unless you know what you are doing.
It is now safe to erase the remaining files using your right mouse button and ?Delete?.
If you are using Windows XP.
Click start>search.
Click ?Documents?
Enter ?bak? in the search field.
Click ?search?.
When the matches appear in the results window, as above look out for ?Config.bak? and ?System.bak? files.
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