US Cannabis Council launches new media campaign

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The national body representing the cannabis industry is increasing its lobbying efforts

US Cannabis Council (USCC) Executive Director Steven Hawkins was joined by Representative Earl Blumenauer and Senator Jeff Merkley yesterday during a briefing on marijuana banking reform. The event was attended by Dennis Brown, whose son was killed during an armed robbery of a dispensary in Tacoma, WA. The idea behind this is to call for a change in banking law with respect to the marijuana industry as more and more violent crimes are evidenced by retailers handling cash-only transactions.

Brown now appears in one of the new ads presented by the USCC during the event. The idea behind the campaign is to shed some light on the importance and need to prevent future tragedies in these establishments. In order to achieve this goal, lawmakers are looking for marijuana businesses to have access to the banking services that other industries currently enjoy. This would allow dispensaries to operate electronically without the need to store and transport large amounts of cash.

“What we have seen over these many months now is how dispensaries have become a magnet for criminal activities because they are cash-based businesses,” Hawkins said. “We have seen a surge in armed robberies targeting dispensaries threatening the lives of workers and we have seen how operators and cannabis businesses carry a target on their back as a result of not having at the federal level SAFE banking legislation.”

Brown, who is part of the ad campaign, says his son Jordan’s death could have been avoided if the digitization of cannabis transactions was a reality. He says his son’s life was taken simply because the country does not give these businesses the opportunity to use credit cards. Perlmutter seeks to provide legitimate banking services to legitimate businesses and prevent scenes like this from happening again.