With legal marijuana sales underway in Alaska, growers will soon be submitting their first tax payments to the state.
For most businesses, that wouldn’t be a problem: they’d just cut a check.
But some banks are leery about dealing with pot businesses since marijuana remains illegal on the federal level. Cary Carrigan, executive director of the Alaska Marijuana Industry Association, thinks it will be an all-cash business in Alaska for now.
Alaska’s first authorized testing lab for recreational marijuana opened last month, followed by the first retail cannabis shops. In Alaska, growers are required to pay taxes on sales and transfers of marijuana.
The state expects to receive its first tax revenues this month.