By Amelia Thomson-Deveaux for The American Prospect

Momentum for marijuana legalization is growing, but dispensary owners still can’t take credit cards or open a bank account.

Earlier this summer, Elliott Klug had a plumbing problem on his hands. There was a leak in the drainage line between his marijuana dispensary, Pink House Blooms in Denver, Colorado, and the street. It was a relatively simple fix, but when it came time to pay the plumber, things got more complicated. Because of federal regulations that restrict marijuana business owners’ access to financial services like banking, Klug had no choice but to hand the plumber an envelope with $25,000 in cash. When the plumber tried to deposit the payment, the cash was held in limbo until the bank could count all of the money and verify that it wasn’t laundered—standard operating procedure for such a large cash deposit. Klug says it’s just another daily hassle for marijuana dispensaries, which occupy a strange legal gray area. Under Colorado law, Pink House Blooms is just one more small business, but in the eyes of the federal government, Klug is illegally trafficking one of the most dangerous drugs around.

Over the past 15 years, 20 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana. In 2014, legal marijuana for recreational use will go on the market in Washington and Colorado. Public opinion is on legalization supporters’ side: More than eight in ten voters believe that marijuana should be legal for medical use if a physician prescribes it. A majority support legal recreational marijuana. But because the federal government still classifies marijuana as a Schedule One drug under the Controlled Substances Act—an extremely dangerous illegal drug with no approved medical use—dispensaries are stuck in no man’s land between the state and the federal government.

via Life Takes Visa—Except If You Want to Buy Pot | The American Prospect.