The hardest part of running a legal weed operation in the United States is quite simply, “what the hell do you do with all that cash?” Marijuana, ridiculously, is still in a quasi-grey area of legality due to all the stone age thinking of the Jeff Sessions’ of the world.
And it’s not just illegal, but it is classified as a Schedule I drug, meaning cannabis is treated with the same stiff penalties reserved for hard drugs like opiates and cocaine. But what all this means is that traditional banks won’t take any money affiliated with cannabis (even if it is earned in a legalized state.) And unfortunately, with cash there’s more than just the “man,” to worry about, but gangs and other criminal organizations who stake out businesses, get to know their routine, then at the right time rob them.
This predicament has sprung a cottage industry of “marijuana protection,” in which armed and trained former special ops soldiers from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars protect the canna-profits. Now your cash could be brought to a local savings and loan without fear of being jacked because some of the world’s toughest soldiers are making sure it arrives safe and sound.
The Wells Fargo’s and Chase’s of the world are not in a position to legally take your cash, so they resort to shutting down phony accounts with large, regular cash deposits as they find them.
But thankfully there’s Canada, (a sentence that’s been uttered since Al Capone Headquartered a good deal of his business in Montreal – which gave birth to Seagrams, in part, post-prohibition.)
Canada once again has come to the rescue with the national legalization of the demon’s weed on October 17th. But with legalization comes the question of how to transport a heavily cash business that will exponentially grow overnight in privatized provinces. The answer: Brinks, the ubiquitous armored car company that serves banks and cash businesses all over the country. Now with October legalization looming, Brinks CEO Douglas Pertz wants in on the action.
The forward-looking CEO was on Jim Cramer’s Mad Money, when the subject of Canadian legalization was brought up. He sees not only massive Canadian profits, but a new federal laboratory that will, through trial and error, provide the perfect model for U.S. Legislation.
According to Pertz, Brinks wants to transport not only cash for marijuana businesses, but he is open to the idea that his drivers will also haul the product. That would be a game changer and one that could make a lot of sense for the industry.
There would be a lot of federal red tape to get through, but at the end of the day the potential is huge. Rather than having each individual cannabis business try to manage the complex differences between each state’s regulatory laws, Brinks can test the durability and economic flexibility of laying the foundation for an entire national system, from seed-to-sale, all hauled safely by Brinks Trucks into a profitable future.
Credit:Source link