Ohio’s forthcoming adult-use cannabis market will soon be among the biggest in the nation, rivaling the likes of Michigan, where licensed dispensaries are on pace to record more than $3 billion in sales in 2024.
This means Ohio dispensaries will likely see an influx of cash in late 2024, when a commercial adult-use retail market is projected to launch via the state’s existing medical cannabis operators.
But Ohio’s junior U.S. senator who took office in 2023 said in a November interview he vehemently opposed banking reform for the industry that would provide for traditional financial services, like business loans, deposit insurance, cashless retail transactions, and direct deposit payroll.
Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, now Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, said that he voted against advancing the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act (S. 2860) during a Senate Banking Committee markup hearing Sept. 27 “due to several public safety-related concerns.”
Meanwhile, Ohio’s senior U.S. senator, Democrat Sherrod Brown, who chairs the committee, helped pushed the legislation through with a 14-9 vote. The legislation is an amended version of the SAFE Banking Act that passed the U.S. House seven times since 2019.
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