Comment by adiabatichottub
2 days ago
I worked in the legal cannabis industry in California before the pandemic. The business I worked for had to jump through a lot of hoops, including dividing itself into multiple LLCs, in order to deal with the disparity between state and federal laws, and the business policies of banks and even some of our equipment vendors (I remember specifically that McMaster-Carr would not do business with you if you were a cannabis company). Most cannabis businesses were forced to work in cash, which made a lot of financial transactions difficult, but also made it easier to do business with those still in the "traditional market". In the end, the stricter regulations had the effect of greater concentration of ownership, but questionable efficacy in stopping illegal exports.
It's my understanding that cannabis is still federally illegal virtually without exception, therefore changing AML law might not do much for your industry since it was always an illegal conspiracy to knowingly aid and abet the commission of a felony.
It hasn't been my industry for years, and the legality of intrastate cannabis is still being fought in the courts, see the Canna Provisions case which has been ongoing since 2023 and is currently on the Supreme Court docket.
I'd like to see intrastate commerce of plants not be interstate commerce, but until the supreme court decides otherwise most of the legal finding in Wickard v Filburn are still intact that it is interstate commerce to even grow a crop (in this case weed) on your own property and consume it even if you don't sell or transfer it.
Finding intrastate regulation of cannabis as outside of interstate commerce would basically implode most the government at this point, which I'm doubtful they would allow. The Civil Rights Act, ADA, FDA, EPA, OSHA and a myriad of other stuff all squarely rely on the same precedent that makes federal intrastate marijuana regulation legal.
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