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News
In April 2012, federal agents raided the pot dispensary comment from The Green Sheet, Visa Inc. released a
and educational center in Oakland, Calif., causing turmoil statement that said, in part, "Given the federal government's
for an enterprise that Oaksterdam thought was operating position and recognizing this is an evolving legal matter
within the law. with different standards applicable in different states,
our local merchant acquirers are best suited to make any
While an attempt to legalize recreational marijuana use in determination about potential illegality."
California was defeated in 2010, the sale of pot for medicinal
uses has been legal in the Golden State since 1996. Still, the Rianda said the card companies are conservative
feds raided Oaksterdam, purportedly to enforce the federal organizations that will not take definitive positions about
ban, even though the Obama administration promised in pot dispensary processing until the issue is made "crystal
2009 that federal prosecutors would not target marijuana clear" by the feds. "If the federal law somehow goes away,
patients or medical marijuana dispensaries, according to or if there is some kind of ruling that says that the state
an April 2, 2013, article published in OaklandNorth, a news law is controlling on the subject, and where a state would
project of U.C. Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. say it is OK for recreational use, then I'm sure the card
associations would follow along and say that they were
The article, After the raid: One year after federal agents raided fine with it," he said.
Oaksterdam, what's changed?, said that Oaksterdam was still
in operation, though at a much smaller scale. However, The legal marijuana dispensary market is expanding, with
Rianda doesn't see such an action being repeated. "The investors and pot cultivators recognizing that political and
tide's turned, and the feds aren't going to go ahead and cultural trends seem to be in their favor. Rianda advised
enforce the law," he said. "We've got two states that it's legal ISOs to focus on the business case that such processing
in [Colorado and Washington state] and it will probably be offers. "You can't tell anybody, even in Colorado, that
legal in 30 in a couple years. And that's going to be the end they're allowed under the law to go ahead and process for
of it." these people," Rianda said. "So it just becomes a business
decision, if you're going to make enough money to justify
Growth factor the risk or not."
The card brands have taken a cautious approach. While
MasterCard Worldwide did not answer a request for
16
In April 2012, federal agents raided the pot dispensary comment from The Green Sheet, Visa Inc. released a
and educational center in Oakland, Calif., causing turmoil statement that said, in part, "Given the federal government's
for an enterprise that Oaksterdam thought was operating position and recognizing this is an evolving legal matter
within the law. with different standards applicable in different states,
our local merchant acquirers are best suited to make any
While an attempt to legalize recreational marijuana use in determination about potential illegality."
California was defeated in 2010, the sale of pot for medicinal
uses has been legal in the Golden State since 1996. Still, the Rianda said the card companies are conservative
feds raided Oaksterdam, purportedly to enforce the federal organizations that will not take definitive positions about
ban, even though the Obama administration promised in pot dispensary processing until the issue is made "crystal
2009 that federal prosecutors would not target marijuana clear" by the feds. "If the federal law somehow goes away,
patients or medical marijuana dispensaries, according to or if there is some kind of ruling that says that the state
an April 2, 2013, article published in OaklandNorth, a news law is controlling on the subject, and where a state would
project of U.C. Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. say it is OK for recreational use, then I'm sure the card
associations would follow along and say that they were
The article, After the raid: One year after federal agents raided fine with it," he said.
Oaksterdam, what's changed?, said that Oaksterdam was still
in operation, though at a much smaller scale. However, The legal marijuana dispensary market is expanding, with
Rianda doesn't see such an action being repeated. "The investors and pot cultivators recognizing that political and
tide's turned, and the feds aren't going to go ahead and cultural trends seem to be in their favor. Rianda advised
enforce the law," he said. "We've got two states that it's legal ISOs to focus on the business case that such processing
in [Colorado and Washington state] and it will probably be offers. "You can't tell anybody, even in Colorado, that
legal in 30 in a couple years. And that's going to be the end they're allowed under the law to go ahead and process for
of it." these people," Rianda said. "So it just becomes a business
decision, if you're going to make enough money to justify
Growth factor the risk or not."
The card brands have taken a cautious approach. While
MasterCard Worldwide did not answer a request for
16
