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| Lawmakers Vow Bill To Allow Medical-Pot Co-ops |
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Posted by CN Staff on January 11, 2012 at 04:49:23 PT By John Ingold, The Denver Post Source: Denver Post 
Denver -- Colorado's medical-marijuana industry, already subject to the most comprehensive cannabis-business regulations in the country, might soon have another national first to its credit: a bank, of sorts.Two state lawmakers said they plan to propose a bill that would allow the industry to form a "financial cooperative" to provide banking services to medical-marijuana businesses. The cooperative would work like a credit union, with membership limited to industry members. But it would be free of the kinds of federal insurance requirements that exist with banks and credit unions and that have made those institutions reluctant to work with medical-marijuana businesses. State Sen. Pat Steadman, a Denver Democrat who is one of the bill's proponents, said the cooperative would plug a hole in state medical-marijuana regulations. "The inability to have a financial institution to do their banking with real ly hinders regulatory enforcement," Steadman said. "So it's in everybody's interest that these people don't have piles of cash lying around . . . and, instead, there's a paper trail." Steadman — who is working with state Rep. Tom Massey, R-Poncha Springs, on the measure — said he plans to introduce the bill next week. The bill is expected to be the major focus of medical-marijuana-related lobbying at the state Capitol during this year's legislative session, which starts today. Massey said he thinks legislators — after two previous sessions of furious medical-marijuana law-making — are content this year to see how the regulations are working. Snipped Complete Article: http://www.denverpost.com/news/marijuana/ci_19716459 Source: Denver Post (CO) CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help
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