A bipartisan coalition of 32 state and territorial attorneys general posted a letter Thursday that calls on Congressional leaders to pass the SAFER Banking Act of 2025, legislation that seeks to normalize the relationship between state-legal cannabis businesses and the financial industry.
The cannabis industry generated over $30.1 billion in sales in 2024 and is projected to surpass $34 billion by the end of 2025, according to the letter. However, although nearly 75% of U.S. citizens live in a jurisdiction that has legalized some form of access to cannabis products – whether via a medical program or as part of sweeping adult-use reforms – the industry still conducts its business almost entirely in cash.
This creates “a considerable safety issue for the public,” the attorneys general wrote, as “employees and customers are at greater risk of violent crime in pursuit of that cash.” The letter argues that giving cannabis companies access to “the nation’s regulated banking system is crucial to public safety and to ensuring that lawful businesses in our states have access to regulated banking services.”
The reforms would also improve “compliance with tax laws,” the letter said, and would “help ensure that state governments do not forfeit hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue that the cannabis industry generates.”
“Congress should provide a safe harbor for depository institutions that provide a financial product or service to a covered business in a state that has implemented laws and regulation that ensure accountability in the cannabis industry. An effective safe harbor would bring billions of dollars into the banking sector, enabling law enforcement, federal, state, and local tax agencies, and cannabis regulators in the states and territories to more effectively monitor cannabis businesses and their transactions.” – Excerpt from the letter
“By reducing the risk of crime and improving tax compliance through access to regulated financial services, the SAFER Banking Act has the ability to enhance both public safety and transparency,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D), who supported similar legislation in 2023, said in a statement. “With billions in revenue, giving cannabis businesses a secure place to bank isn’t just smart policy – it’s common sense.”
