Banks: No to Marijuana Money! Legal or Not

While more and more people are legally getting high in the US, new (bigger) problems seem to cloud medical marijuana merchants.

In a report by New York Times, legal sellers such as Ryank Kunkel and Joel Berman face great risks. Each time they need to pay their taxes, they carry their cash in paper bags, hop in different cars and even strategize on how they will get to the Department of Bureau safely.

"Carrying such large amounts of cash is a terrible risk that freaks me out a bit because there is the fear in my mind that the next car pulling up beside me could be the crew that hijacks us," Kunkel shares.

While the risk of getting mugged is one thing, an even bigger roadblock causes the need to carry cash in brown paper bags: banks.

Since pot has been legalized in certain states, banks are having a hard time outlining the laws and regulations of accepting marijuana money because they are afraid that federal law might punish them for money laundering, which equates to large fines.

"So much money floating around outside the banking system is not safe, and it is not in anyone's interest. Federal law needs to be harmonized with state laws," executive director of Washington, D.C's National Cannabis Industry Association Aaron Smith says.

This has led legal marijuana sellers to work around the system. They pay their employees in envelopes of cash, stash the money in Tupperwares with air fresheners clinging to each to hide the smell of pot. Others even open bank accounts under fake names or under their personal accounts. If they get lucky, certain local banks help the sellers in choosing nondescript company names- anything to obscure the real nature of what they do, despite being legal in the state.

The all-cash industry has led to medical marijuana business owners to take extra precautionary measures to keep their store safe. Some have installed panic buttons, floor sensors and endless streams of security cameras.