The possibility of a solution before New Jersey’s industry gets off the ground appears unlikely, according to Bob Anderson, shareholder at Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper P.C.
“These neighborhoods that we want to favorably impact and get businesses into might also be ones that are more likely to have higher crime rates,” he said.
In 1970, the Controlled Substance Act placed marijuana in the most restrictive class of drugs, Schedule I.
This puts banks in a limbo.
As a result, Anderson said, cannabis businesses in other states that have legalized marijuana can’t write checks, and have to deal solely in cash.
“The problem has been, time after time, when the bill gets to the Senate, it dies there,” he said.
But the focus in Congress is currently chained to issues like the administration’s infrastructure bill, Anderson said.
To top it off, all-cash businesses have never made for the most favorable circumstances for tax collection, Anderson added.
“Personally I think, as with any legislation these days, its success really depends on what conditions the Senate will put on the bill and whether that’s acceptable when it goes back to the House,” he said.