SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. – More cannabis retailers are being robbed across Washington in recent weeks. Advocates and store owners say they’re susceptible because they only carry cash.
House Bill 5927 is going through the legislature right now to increase jail time for those convicted of robbing a cannabis store. The law, if passed, would also require shops to report attempted robberies to the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board so it could better track robberies.
Running a store is stressful, as any business owner can relate. Sativa Sisters’ general manager Shawheen Azizi heard about the rise in robberies across Washington.
“There’s always a concern for that,” said Azizi.
In a public hearing for the bill on Friday, the Craft Cannabis Coalition said more than 54 robberies happened at pot shops since the start of this year.
Many in the hearing applaud and advocate for the proposed bill. Azizi appreciates the effort but still doesn’t feel like it’s enough.
“That doesn’t fix the problem at the core. It’s somewhat of a band-aid,” he said. “I still think it’s beneficial and might deter people, but the reason you deter people is by removing the source of why they need to show up and do the crime in the first place.”
That source, he says is cash, and making it so cannabis retailers can access banks and use credit and debit cards. However, that’s not allowed at the moment, as marijuana is still federally prohibited despite many states legalizing it.
“This is just a layer to a deeper, more complex problem which has to do with the financial regulation, where if we’re able to use debit cards with local credit unions, or the credit highways, Visa and MasterCard would be very beneficial to us. It would be much safer,” he said.
A spokesperson with the Liquor and Cannabis Board spoke in the public hearing Friday, saying the incidents are “disturbing,” and that the new legislation may help.
“There is no imminent indication of federal banking reform and until we get federal banking reform, these businesses are going to remain uniquely vulnerable. We think this is an important public safety measure,” said Chris Thompson with the LCB.
In the meantime, there are multiple suggestions the LCB is giving to cannabis retail shops to keep their places as safe as they can. That includes minimizing the amount of cash in registers, putting up signs that people are being recorded on surveillance video, hire armed security and more.
Azizi says they do a majority of that.
“I think it’s a good step. I hope this doesn’t just point out that we’re going to apply this one step to the problem, and that it sheds light to other people to make better legislation so we can actually find better solutions than just say, ‘Hey, we’ve noticed there’s a security problem,’” Azizi said.
RELATED: Washington cannabis retailers pushing for law that would protect them from robberies
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