The Vine

One of the major problems in the cannabis industry is inability to bank safely. This is because cannabis is still federally listed as a Schedule I drug.  

However, we learned big industry news that the highly recognized California dispensary Harborside secured a revolving credit facility with an unnamed federally-regulated bank. It's apparently the first loan of its kind to a plant-touching business.

The San Francisco Business Times wrote about the news saying that cannabis is moving more mainstream as Oakland's Harborside said it received a $12MIL business loan.

"To the best of our knowledge, Harborside is the first cannabis business in the United States to secure a commercial loan of this kind with a traditional lender," said Tom DiGiovanni, Chief Financial Officer of Harborside. "This deal is the culmination of months of effort and reflects the close working relationship and trust that we have developed with our bank. By significantly lowering our cost of capital, we will be able to better serve our customers, provide high-quality products and invest more heavily throughout California." Learn more via the PR Newswire here. 

On March 18th, Marijana Moment wrote that that The SAFE Banking Act that protects banks that service state-legal marijuana businesses from being penalized by federal regulators has again been filed in the House.

"The SAFE Banking Act would ensure that financial institutions could take on cannabis business clients without facing federal penalties. Fear of sanctions has kept many banks and credit unions from working with the industry, forcing marijuana firms to operate on a cash basis that makes them targets of crime and creates complications for financial regulators." Read "Marijuana Banking Bill Reintroduced In Congress With Broad Bipartisan Support From More Than 100 Lawmakers" to learn more. 

This is an important time in history. PMP will keep you posted on updates.