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tered as drops, topically or as a food sponsor, said following the House vote. "Prohibition is over. Our bill is focused
additive. CBD is believed to provide solely on taking cash off the streets and making our communities safer." "Pass-
relief for a range of medical condi- ing this bill keeps the right perspective," added Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio.
tions, including pain, anxiety and "No federal regulator should block Americans' lawful access to the financial
post-traumatic stress disorder. system. This principle holds true whether you are talking about firearms or
cannabis."
I've spotted CBD product displays in
national chains like CVS and Wal- While no Senate votes have been scheduled yet on the SAFE Banking Act, the
greens, as well as at regional con- bill enjoys bipartisan support: Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is chief sponsor in the
venience and grocery store chains Senate. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who calls the shots on what legislation
all along the East Coast. Surely the makes it to the floor of that chamber, reportedly met with executives of canna-
card brands can't be unaware that bis companies in October, but has declined to discuss the fate of the legislation
these chains are running CBD sales publicly.
through their terminals. Yet I regu-
larly field queries from agents inquir- Sen. MConnell also ensured Senate passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, which includ-
ing about boarding CBD merchants, ed reclassifying hemp as a commodity, subject to regulation by the U.S. De-
because their acquiring partners partment of Agriculture. Hemp is a type of cannabis plant with very low levels
won't accept these potential clients. of THC, the compound that gets users high and is prevalent in marijuana, the
most popular type of cannabis among medicinal and recreational users. While
Leading acquirer Elavon did start hemp has no intoxicating effects, for decades it was categorized as a controlled
boarding CBD merchants earlier this substance just like marijuana. Under the 2018 Farm Bill, CBD derived from
year, only to pull out of the market hemp is legal, but only if derived from hemp grown by USDA-licensed grow-
a few months later, apparently after ers. The USDA issued interim regulations in October that set up licensing, test-
the card brands caught wind of what ing and other regulatory requirements for the production and sale of hemp.
it was doing. The card brands would Patti Murphy is senior editor at The Green Sheet and self-described payments maven of the
likely relax this stance should the
federal government change its posi- Fourth Estate. Follow her on Twitter @GS_PayMaven.
tion on banking cannabis businesses,
as they did following full legalization
in Canada last year.

Is safe banking in the cards?
The Secure and Fair Enforcement
(SAFE) Banking Act might pave the
way for that to happen. The legisla-
tion, which was overwhelming ap-
proved by the House, would provide
a safe harbor for banks and credit
unions that want to work with canna-
bis businesses. The legislation made
it through the House in what seems
like breakneck speed compared to
most major legislation. It was intro-
duced in January, approved by the
House Financial Services Committee
in March and approved by the full
House in September.

Backers insist the legislation doesn't
seek to change federal law regard-
ing cannabis; it merely aims to open
the banking system to cannabis busi-
nesses that operate within the legal
frameworks established by the states
where they do business. "American
voters have spoken and continue to
speak, and the fact is you can't put
the genie back in the bottle," Rep. Ed
Perlmutter, D-Colo., the bill's lead

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