The CEO of a U.S.-based cannabis company says legislation set to be reviewed by lawmakers this week would ease significant financial burdens for her business. “We’re just asking to be a normal business,” Kim Rivers, CEO of Trulieve, told BNN Bloomberg in a Tuesday interview.
“We operate in 10 states, have over 5,000 employees, and pay a lot of money in taxes. This would help ease some of that burden.” The Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation Banking Act (SAFER) is set to be reviewed by a U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday, who will then decide whether to send the bill to a Senate floor vote.
The proposed legislation would provide cannabis companies access to traditional banking services, like credit, loans, and financial services essential to running a business. For her company, which sells medical and recreational cannabis in the U.S., Rivers said these changes would be a “significant win” for operators and employees in the cannabis sector, who are limited to cash transactions in the U.S.
“Currently, cannabis is a cash-only business,” Rivers said, “which leads to significant safety issues for us and our employees.” Just this week, she said, one of Trulieve’s dispensaries was broken into.
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