The Federal Reserve & the War on Drugs

By Danny Lewis

The Federal Reserve is now taking part in the drug war. The Kansas City Federal Reserve is bullying Colorado’s Fourth Corner Credit Union which serves the interests of legal marijuana and hemp industries in the state.

An article written by Alt-M reports:

That’s right: the Federal Reserve is now in the business of enforcing the U.S. government’s drug laws, even if that means making a mockery of both state governments’ right to set their own drug policies and the Fed’s own governing statutes.

The Fed’s involvement in drug prohibition became official last month, when the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City informed Denver’s Fourth Corner Credit Union — a non-profit cooperative formed by Colorado’s state-licensed cannabis manufacturers — of its decision to deny its application for a master account.  Since asking any sort of depository institution to operate without such an account, and hence without access to the Fed’s payment facilities, including its check clearing, wire transfer, and ACH facilities, is like asking a commercial airline to make do with propeller-driven biplanes, and established banks don’t want the extra hassle that comes with dealing with pot growers, the Kansas City Fed’s action forces  Colorado’s marijuana industry to do business on a cash-only basis, with all the extra risk and inconvenience that entails.

The Federal Reserve has no business enforcing federal drug policies. This is another reason why we must get a vote on Audit the Fed. Please sign Campaign for Liberty’s Audit the Fed petition to Congress.