This Week in Cannabis News: December 9, 2022

Here’s what you need to know this week

Brittney Griner comes home

Brittney Griner was (finally) released from a Russian penal colony this week and has made her way back home to be reunited with her family. Griner was being held in Russian prison for allegedly flying with vape cartridges. More on this in Marijuana Moment.

On the topic of cannabis-related convictions, Last Prisoner Project is working around the clock to release all non-violent cannabis prisoners in the United States. Click here to learn more about how you can get your year-end donation matched by Dutchie!

Cashless ATM crackdown

It recently became clear, industry-wide, that cashless ATM is no longer a viable payment solution for dispensaries. The announcement has since left operators across the U.S. scrambling to find a solution, with businesses asking that customers use cash in the meantime. Running an all-cash business is a challenge for cannabis retailers due to the overall safety risks, as well as inconvenience to shoppers.

Pro tip: Dutchie is committed to supporting our customers with two cannabis payment processing solutions that enable dispensaries to accept cashless payments while also increasing sales revenue and boosting customer retention. Learn more about Dutchie Pay and PIN debit.

And this came at the exact same time as the hopes for SAFE Banking passing in the lame duck Congressional session this week. SAFE Banking wasn't attached to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) yesterday, but there are still glimmers of hope for passage.

One note, there is resistance from some high ranking members of Congress. In fact, SAFE Banking was part of Republican leader Mitch McConnell's Senate speech yesterday when he said this:

“obstructing efforts to close out the NDAA by trying to jam in unrelated items with no relationship whatsoever to defense… we’re talking about a grab bag of miscellaneous pet priorities... making our financial system more sympathetic to illegal drugs… [and] language that’s already failed to pass the Senate earlier this year…”

New York identifies Harlem as location of the state's first dispensary

The first lease for a New York dispensary was singed by DASNY this week. DASNY is the group in New York responsible for finding, signing and building out dispensary operations for the first justice-impacted licensees in that state. The first lease was signed in Harlem, right across the street from the historic Apollo Theatre.