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? A lot of employers are also concerned with disability issues and they are wondering now that medicinal marijuana is decriminalized in certain circumstances , does the ADA require an employer to accommodate an employee ' s use of medical marijuana ,? she said .
The answer is no , Gutierrez said under the Americans With Disabilities Act or ADA , a ? qualified individual with a disability does not include any employee or applicant who is currently engaging in the illegal use of drugs .?
Banking
In terms of financial and banking regulations applicable to the industry , according to Limtiaco , federal statutes on anti money laundering and the Bank Secrecy Act are still in full force and effect .
? There is an expectation , when it comes to financial institutions , that there is an appropriate risk-based anti-money laundering set of policies and procedures and controls so that any risk that may be posed by those customers who seek service from financial institutions . That those have been very well vetted by the financial institutions and that would include what has been termed as ? customer due diligence .?
Limtiaco said the US Department of Treasury ? s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued guidance back in February 2014 which listed a set of factors . These red flags would assist financial institutions to determine whether or not they are involved in inappropriate illegal marijuana related conduct or businesses .
Gerard A . Cruz , president & CEO of Community First Guam Federal Credit Union said the marijuana industry has remained underserved in terms of deposit and banking services . ? Majority of the services are cash-basis . In the industry ? s opinion , it brings some unintended risks and consequences , to include things like money laundering potential , theft , and more importantly , because many states have used the fact that that it will increase tax revenues , it brings about the potential for unreported taxes ,? he added .
Payment services are also unaccepted . Cruz said , ? You cannot run a credit card , a debit card or use ATM services at these dispensaries . If the transactions run through interstate and authorizations have to cross borders , the networks simply won ' t allow it --- Visa , Mastercard won ' t allow it .?
Only less than half of the industry is banked , according to Cruz , which leaves a lot of room for potential fraud . ? Typically , the relationships for those institutions and bank are limited to deposit services --- and those are primarily from large national institutions who have the ability to implement a compliance program .?
He said these programs include customer diligence and customer information , which requires financial institutions to understand their customers , report transactions with potential illegal activity . According to Cruz , performing due diligence and implementing the type of monitoring required to comply with regulations requires a high financial burden on banks and other financial institutions .
Cruz also noted that there remains a complete disconnect between federal regulations and state laws . ? Federal law needs to be changed . There needs to be more guidance regarding the role of the financial institution . Finally , Congress needs to be actively engaged in making the fixes in order for this to work for financial institutions . Otherwise , it will remain a cash industry ,? he said .
According to Cruz , what is currently possible is that existing financial institutions with an established compliance program , can begin on a limited basis to take on deposits ? Provided that they are able to demonstrate that they have the ability to strengthen their compliance and ensure that monitoring , reporting to requisite agencies has been done ,? he added .
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