Effect of Rescheduling Marijuana on Access to Financial Services (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Aug. 26, 2024 |
| Report Number |
LSB11218 |
| Report Type |
Legal Sidebar |
| Authors |
David H. Carpenter |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
Although federal law prohibits most marijuana-related activities, a majority of U.S. states and territories
have adopted laws permitting certain types of marijuana sales and other marijuana-related activities.
Many financial institutions, however, are unwilling to provide common banking products and services to
state-authorized marijuana businesses because of the potential legal consequences they could face under
federal law. Marijuana is currently classified as a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances
Act (CSA). The CSA criminalizes the possession, distribution, and manufacturing of Schedule I
substances, except for use in federally approved research studies. Additionally, federal anti-money
laundering (AML) laws (i.e., Sections 1956 and 1957 of the criminal code) criminalize the handling of
proceeds derived from marijuana manufacturing and sales in violation of the CSA.
In August 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommended that, based on its
assessment of marijuana’s medical uses and potential for abuse and chemical dependency, marijuana
should be moved from Schedule I to Schedule III under the CSA. On May 21, 2024, the Department of
Justice (DOJ) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would implement HHS’s recommendation.
This proposal has raised questions about how rescheduling would affect the provision of financial
services to state-sanctioned marijuana businesses. As discussed below, rescheduling marijuana as DOJ has
proposed is unlikely by itself to eliminate the legal risks of financial institutions serving marijuana
businesses and, thus, might not significantly increase marijuana businesses’ access to financial services.
This Legal Sidebar analyzes the liability that financial institutions risk under current federal law by
serving state-sanctioned marijuana businesses, as well as how those risks might be affected if marijuana is
moved to Schedule III. The Legal Sidebar finishes with a discussion of legislative options that Congress
might consider for increasing access to financial services for marijuana businesses, notably including S.
2860, the Secure And Fair Enforcement Regulation Banking Act (SAFER Banking Act), and H.R. 2891,
the Secure And Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2023 (SAFE Banking Act).
