Marjuana

By Aaron Kesel for Activist Post. Hawaiian state officials announced Tuesday that Hawaii will be the first state to require the sale of marijuana to be cashless, paid with a special debit card payment system next month. “Oct. 1 is our target date to try to go cashless as much as we can,” Iris Ikeda the state’s financial institutions commissioner, told reporters at a news conference. While marijuana is legal for medical use in Hawaii, the feds still consider it a Schedule I drug. This status has brought problems for many banks and credit unions, which is the reason why cannabis dispensaries have been cash-only. Instead of cash, customers will have to download and install CanPay, a mobile app that processes payment for medicinal marijuana shops using a Colorado-based credit Union, Safe Harbor Private Banking. The app is already an option for marijuana transactions in six states, including California and Colorado. Now a battle begins with credit card processing companies like Visa and Mastercard who say they won’t allow their cards to be used to buy cannabis or marijuana-related products.