Banks wary of ganja money

SEATTLE (AP):For marijuana dispensaries around the country, the days of doing business in cash - driving around with bill-stuffed envelopes to pay the rent, or showing up at a state-revenue office with $20,000 in paper bags for the tax man - can't end soon enough.

However, it's not clear that the Obama administration's new guidance on pot-related banking is going to end them.

The Justice and Treasury Departments last Friday issued banks a road map for doing business with marijuana firms. The security-wary pot industry, including recreational shops in Colorado and medical-marijuana operators elsewhere, welcomed the long-awaited news, but banking-industry groups made clear that the administration's tone didn't make them feel much easier about taking pot money.

THREAT OF PROSECUTION

The banks were hoping the announcement would relieve them of the threat of prosecution should they open accounts for marijuana businesses, Don Childears, president of the Colorado Bankers Association, said in a written statement. It doesn't.

"After a series of red lights, we expected this guidance to be a yellow one," Childears said. "At best, this amounts to 'serve these customers at your own risk', and it emphasises all of the risks. This light is red."