To the Editor:

I read with interest your editorial in the May 3 edition as well as Elizabeth Floyd Mair’s article and the letter from Alisha Betti, PharmD on the subject of medical marijuana. I wholeheartedly support the facilitation of dispensing this to a greater patient population.

What was not addressed in the pieces in your paper was the fact that the medical marijuana industry is forced to operate strictly on a cash basis. As long as the federal government continues to consider marijuana a Schedule-1 controlled substance banks and credit unions are reluctant to establish depository accounts for the dispensaries for fear of federal legal liability.

By depriving the dispensaries of banking relationships with check-writing privileges, they are forcing their clients to pay cash for all purchases. Not only does this present a security risk to everyone, but the businesses must, in turn, pay all their expenses in cash.

That means large amounts properly sorted to pay rent, taxes, suppliers, insurance, payroll, cleaning services, and all other expenses incidental to operating any business with the attendant secure storage and delivery requirements. This is unwieldy and expensive in the extreme.

Some months ago, The New York Times had a magazine article about a small credit union in Colorado that decided to buck the trend and open accounts for dispensaries in that state. The processing protocols, record-keeping, and regulatory oversight requirements were incredible but they stuck with it and, apparently, are profiting from the service offered. But that is one institution in one state.

Until the federal government changes the classification of marijuana, which will allow banking as is normally enjoyed by all other commercial entities, the proliferation of medical marijuana dispensaries will continue to be hampered despite the best efforts of everyone else involved.

Philip S. Arony

Charlton, New York