Oklahoma’s medical marijuana industry is booming, but every transaction must still involve cash.Lawmakers said that’s dangerous, and they want to do something about it. A proposed bill would set up a digital bank operation allowing the state to keep track of every single sale, which would also ensure Oklahoma gets every dollar it’s owed through taxes.Because traditional banks aren’t allowed to be involved in the medical marijuana industry due to current federal laws, the entire industry runs on cash. But cash is hard to track, and it’s dangerous as businesses are often targets for burglars and robbers.”If you’re running an illegal enterprise, you’re not going to be for our bill,” state Rep. J.J. Humphrey said. “If you’re a legal operator, I think this is a great bill to get rid of the illegal (operations) and make your business better.”Humphrey said bringing cashless transactions to medical marijuana will help get the industry under control and weed out illegal operations. State Rep. Andy Fugate is concerned about using a single digital bank for the entire industry.”This bill creates a monopoly for a single business in the state of Oklahoma to profit off every single dollar of a billion-dollar industry in the state of Oklahoma,” Fugate said.”That’s a legitimate complaint that we are trying to work through, and I think we’ve got the language in there to fix that problem,” Humphrey said.Fugate prefers the bill to be looked at again and launched as a pilot program before any permanent changes are made.Humphrey is convinced he will make his bill work for everyone and will bring in more tax revenue from businesses currently skirting the system.”The best thing is little investment for the state, a lot of return. The potential for return is great, as much as $300 million possibly,” Humphrey said.
Oklahoma’s medical marijuana industry is booming, but every transaction must still involve cash.
Lawmakers said that’s dangerous, and they want to do something about it. A proposed bill would set up a digital bank operation allowing the state to keep track of every single sale, which would also ensure Oklahoma gets every dollar it’s owed through taxes.
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Because traditional banks aren’t allowed to be involved in the medical marijuana industry due to current federal laws, the entire industry runs on cash. But cash is hard to track, and it’s dangerous as businesses are often targets for burglars and robbers.
“If you’re running an illegal enterprise, you’re not going to be for our bill,” state Rep. J.J. Humphrey said. “If you’re a legal operator, I think this is a great bill to get rid of the illegal (operations) and make your business better.”
Humphrey said bringing cashless transactions to medical marijuana will help get the industry under control and weed out illegal operations. State Rep. Andy Fugate is concerned about using a single digital bank for the entire industry.
“This bill creates a monopoly for a single business in the state of Oklahoma to profit off every single dollar of a billion-dollar industry in the state of Oklahoma,” Fugate said.
“That’s a legitimate complaint that we are trying to work through, and I think we’ve got the language in there to fix that problem,” Humphrey said.
Fugate prefers the bill to be looked at again and launched as a pilot program before any permanent changes are made.
Humphrey is convinced he will make his bill work for everyone and will bring in more tax revenue from businesses currently skirting the system.
“The best thing is little investment for the state, a lot of return. The potential for return is great, as much as $300 million possibly,” Humphrey said.
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