Washington recently has seen a spike in armed robberies of marijuana retailers, including three incidents with lethal outcomes in one week this month. State-licensed dispensaries are ripe targets for robbers because financial institutions remain leery of the federally prohibited cannabis industry, which forces many merchants to rely heavily on cash. The House of Representatives has voted for legislation aimed at addressing that problem six times, but it has gone nowhere in the Senate. Recent efforts were stymied by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D–N.Y.), who claims to support marijuana reform but thinks his own, broader legislation should take priority.
That position is politically and practically untenable, because a repeal of the federal ban on marijuana, while certainly long overdue, is unlikely to win Senate approval anytime soon. By contrast, the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, which would protect financial institutions that serve state-licensed marijuana businesses from federal prosecution, forfeiture, and regulatory penalties, would already be law but for Schumer's opposition. His obstruction nevertheless was backed by the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), which likewise worries that approving marijuana banking reform will relieve pressure for more fundamental change. This is a casebook example of letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.
