Robert L. Johnson
As the founder of Black Entertainment Television and as a lifelong entrepreneur, I know firsthand the challenges entrepreneurs face when starting, growing and maintaining a business. To successfully stay in business, it takes a good product, commitment and finances.
For any business owner, good relationships with banking institutions and having access to financial services are keys to the success of the business. The lack of access to capital can make or break a business.
When I sold BET and started my current business, The RLJ Companies, the portfolio of companies included both a private equity firm and a bank that enabled me to create economic growth opportunities for individuals and businesses. Today, the private equity company includes a hydroponic business that provides supplies needed for growers in the cannabis industry.
Growing America’s marijuana industry
According to a research report conducted by New Frontier Data, the U.S. cannabis industry is projected to be a $72 billion market by 2030.
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Imagine that these billions of dollars are being exchanged in the marketplace but never deposited into a single financial or banking institution. With 37 states and Washington, D.C., permitting cannabis for either medical or recreational purposes, state-regulated cannabis markets are on a collision course with federal laws that have not kept up.
The result is that many of these businesses are forced to operate as cash-only businesses and unable to access traditional banking systems.
Maintain safe and secure markets
I am not a proponent of excessive government intervention in the marketplace, but I am a firm believer in the government’s responsibility to maintain safe and secure markets.
Congress is working on a bipartisan solution to provide significant relief to the cannabis industry. The SAFE Banking Act would grant legally operated cannabis-related businesses fair and equal access to the financial services they are now prohibited from engaging. With the enactment of the SAFE Banking Act, these businesses would be able to obtain a checking account, access capital to start a new business or expand an existing business.
The bill also would create more opportunities for small and minority-owned cannabis businesses to have a fair chance to compete, which I fully support.
Another area that the SAFE legislation addresses is the public safety issue for businesses that legally grow, market, sell cannabis or provide supplies. Access to banking services can significantly minimize crimes of opportunity that thrive in this cash-based industry and reduce the public safety risk in communities across the nation.
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For years, racial and social inequities related to the criminalization of marijuana have unfairly targeted the Black community. Without question, the lack of access to capital and capital formation are the principal factors holding back opportunities for minority businesses and, consequently, wealth and job creation within the minority communities they serve.
Access to banking services with fair terms and rates for minority-owned cannabis businesses also would be achieved with passage of the SAFE Banking Act.
House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters has noted that passing the SAFE Banking Act would address ongoing safety concerns, provide much needed relief to small and minority-owned cannabis businesses, and represent a step forward on a long journey toward equitable and sensible cannabis policy.
I am calling on both the House of Representatives and the Senate to prioritize and pass this important legislation to ensure that entrepreneurs, business owners both small and large, and minority-owned businesses have the chance to conduct their operations safely and well positioned to participate and thrive in the American dream.
Robert L. Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television, is also founder and chairman of the RLJ Companies headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.
This is part of a series by USA TODAY Opinion about police accountability and building safer communities. The project began in 2021 by examining qualified immunity and continues in 2022 by examining various ways to improve law enforcement. The project is made possible in part by a grant from Stand Together, which does not provide editorial input.
More opinion on cannabis:
Legalizing marijuana? Stay wary of health risks and commercialization.
Senate Democrats introduced a cannabis legalization bill. Congress should pass it.
Oregon governor takes lead with marijuana pardons. It’s time other states act as well.
