BELLEVUE, Wash. — As cannabis stores in Washington are being targeted in robberies, federal and local lawmakers are working to make the marijuana business safer.
A big update is expected this week as part of the effort to legalize marijuana at the federal level.
According to the Washington CannaBusiness Association, roughly 70 robberies have been recorded at marijuana retailers since the start of this year.
The robberies have become so frequent that cannabis stores in Washington are desperate for help.
Three deaths are linked to three armed robberies at Western Washington stores in the last month.
A few days ago, the Craft Cannabis Coalition, which represents more than 50 cannabis retailers in Washington, asked state and county leaders for help.
King County Councilman Reagan Dunn said he’s fed up with the violence and that now is the time to aggressively arrest and prosecute on the federal level.
“If you’re going to come commit a violent act in a pot shop, you’re going to jail - no ifs ands or buts about it,” said Dunn.
Armed pot shop robberies have become common in Washington, and other states are also seeing an alarming rise in robberies because they are forced to only use cash.
Jenna Rodriguez is co-owner of Gypsy Greens in Chehalis.
“It became not if this was going to happen to us, it became when this is going to happen to us, and it finally did about a month ago,” said Rodriguez.
On Tuesday, Dunn proposed a joint task force between both the King County Sheriff’s Office and the King County Prosecutor.
If his fellow councilmembers vote yes, local patrols would increase around the shops.
A few hours after Dunn made his announcement, marijuana retailers met with state leaders and policymakers in Olympia.
The Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board also has the issue on its radar. The way the board sees it, the lack of banking services has made for a very real public safety crisis, and the escalation of armed robberies means Congress needs to take action.
On the federal side, a new bill aims to help stop the problem by allowing marijuana businesses to use banking services.
The bill appears to have enough support to pass in the House. Lawmakers will vote on it this week.
If it passes in the House, the bill would then be considered in the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is backing the bill.
“Amazingly, in this 21st century, marijuana is still treated by federal laws with the same hostility as heroin,” said Schumer.
Some Republicans are expressing concern that it’s a hasty push by Democrats.
“Democrats rush to legalize marijuana without any heed or response to the rising epidemic of drug driving across the country. It would mean more dead and injured Americans on our highways,” said U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.)
A recent poll by the Pew Research Center found that 91% of U.S. adults believe that marijuana should be legalized at least to some extent.
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