Marijuana Business Daily – December 5th, 2013
The New York State Assembly Health Committee has begun hearings on the benefits of medical marijuana, which could pave the way for legalization next year.
The first meeting – held Wednesday in Buffalo – included testimony from medical marijuana patients from Colorado. The hearings continue today, with more patients and advocates set to testify.
The medicinal marijuana industry is still not considered a legal operation under the federal law of The United States. This not only makes it difficult for medicinal marijuana dispensaries to work in peace even in the states where they are legal, but the industry also finds it very difficult to process payments . Even when the industry is legal in 17 States, most credit card processing companies and banks follow the federal verdict against the industry and mostly refuse to provide any services to the business.
Despite the federal law against the marijuana dispensaries, medical science and new researches prove that medicinal marijuana is very effective in treating different types of diseases and medical conditions. With more awareness among masses and education about herbs and medicinal importance of marijuana, the business is generating some good revenue for business owners. This is one of the reasons the demand for medicinal marijuana merchant accounts is greater than ever today. With federal restrictions, many banks and merchant account providers are hesitant to provide payment processing services even to the legal marijuana dispensaries because of inconsistent legal clouds around the industry. This makes it hard for business owners to find a good and reliable merchant service for their business but it is not entirely impossible.
With the growth of online merchant account providers in the last few years, there are many companies that are willing to provide payment processing services to the medicinal marijuana industry. The services are mostly provided under the category of high risk merchant accounts with special terms and conditions. Even when the top credit card processors blocked their services to medical marijuana merchants in July 2012, many merchant account providers found alternates from the diverse options available in the payment arena to continue their services to their clients. Many account providers came up with new and innovative payment procedures that qualify and provide for the needs of the medical marijuana industry.
With good numbers of online merchant account providers available with a large variety of payment solutions specially designed for the medical marijuana industry, the decision to choose one is becoming a difficult one for owners of marijuana dispensaries. Business owners need to do detailed research before making a decision about the authenticity of account providers, their payment processing method and the history. Go to online review sites that can help you read some reviews about the past customers that can help you in making a decision. Make sure that the payment procedure used by the company suits your business, look for the history of the company and their consistency in providing services. Learn if they have a history of blocking and reactivating accounts for medicinal marijuana dispensaries again and again under the federal pressure. If this is the case, avoid such company and look for options that have a history of consistency. There are several payment processing methods offered by different companies, but point of banking programs are the most used for medicinal marijuana merchant services.
For the medicinal marijuana industry, the business is evolving and thriving at the same time. New investments and money are pouring in, with the awareness about the benefits that medicinal marijuana have. The only thing that can help you take advantage of the large demand of your product is to find a good medicinal marijuana merchant account that can simplify your payment processing.
Marijuana is one of the most controversial conversations of the century and if you went back in time, you could see that William Hearst had a hand in the problem. Along those same lines, the medical marijuana community is divergently changing the minds of many politicians and scientists. Getting the real information into the public’s hands and educating as many people as possible.
We all know that herbs are a good thing to have for one issue or another. And we also know that too much of a good thing can make you sick. Scientists are discovering the benefits of marijuana and sales have been riveting. Merchant’s services accounts have sky rocketed, as well as the mobile sales devices.
Merchant accounts for high risk businesses are tricky at best, even though our airlines and movie ticket sales are developed through high risk merchant accounts. Marijuana sales are grouped right in that sales arena.
Sanjay Gupta to the rescue
However, with the bravery of Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical expert, things are changing. With his bravery and his initiative of a documentary, more people are communicating, about the sales of medical marijuana, than ever before.
With the onslaught of media and social media firing up the airwaves, the discussion just got fiery hot. Gupta is showing the medicinal reasons we need this drug on the market, not hiding it in the dark corners. For over eighty years, the government hid it from us because of a newspaper man, who deemed it as a class 1 narcotic with no medicinal means to it.
The truth shall prevail
If this drug can assist with medical issues, why wouldn’t we use it? It’s a natural product and could be a wonder drug. If we don’t explore the issue, how are we to learn the positive aspect to this drug? We already know the negative areas that it can affect. How about we turn that around and do something good with it?
A dream
With knowledge, it stomps out ignorance. With education it reveals the truth and lets the fallacies float away. The same goes with the argument of marijuana. It has suffered years as the drug that does us no good. It suffers under the high risk merchant account problem areas. And it causes the issuer problems if it is found in the seller’s car in the wrong state.
Sanjay Gupta has come to the rescue of many people, but his information is slow in coming, and may very well not reach everyone before they have suffered under the legal side of the issue. The day is coming, that the drug that William Hearst used to save his business, will be released to the masses to assist with pain, disease and other problems. It will no longer be the scapegoat to the prohibition era, and no longer be classified as a class one narcotic, evermore.
William Hearst waged a war on marijuana to take away the competition using any means necessary to stabilize his livelihood. Unfortunately for the American people he had political pull and he wasn’t afraid to benefit by using his strong influence. Back in the roaring twenties, as we came into the technological age, our beliefs and things we understood, were antiquated at best.
The black cat was still to be feared. Polio was a killer and so was the common cold. People still believed that bleeding a person was the only way to save them. And in among all this geriatric learning we did, one evil was traded for another.
Hearst’s influence
Hearst joined the wealthy DuPont family who held many exclusive patents on chemicals used in manufacturing paints, plastics and paper that could become worthless if hemp products became widely available. Hearst was fearful of the affects those products would have on his paper mills and other businesses. So they formulated a plan to prevent the cultivation or importation of hemp products into the United States as many men do when they’re threatened.
With his friends of fancy and plans being laid, the Volstead Act was worked on until he had it abolished and replaced with the war on drugs. This circle of influence reached to the highest of our politicians. Whether or not they knew they were being used, is entirely up to history. Between 1930 and 1937, Hearst and the DuPont Empires, had convinced several states to outlaw marijuana possession and by 1937 “The Anslinger Act” – formally known as the “Marihuana Tax Act of 1937” – was passed by Congress. It imposed a prohibitive tax on the cultivation and importation of hemp and hemp products and criminalized marijuana use at both the state and federal levels.
Using his paper
He began the war with his newspaper and surreptitiously began attacking the DuPont’s and their empire. All the while, being very wily and fox like. His articles were scathing, and bringing forth the evils drug lords and pot smokers could do. He was terrifying the quiet house wife, and preaching to all those that would listen.
The newspapers of the time were known as the Muckraker’s for a reason and William Hearst and the influence he derived, was no exception. He had no problem with assisting in the continuation of fraud, fear and keeping the balance on his side of the sidewalk.
It was so devoutly done that in 1937 Marijuana was outlawed and alcohol became legal to have again. The Speak Easys died away and Hearst held onto his empire.
All that legal wrangling done over eighty years ago and we still have issues with the marijuana trade. It’s also a part of the high risk list for merchant accounts. Right along with airline tickets, musical tickets and simple things that we all rely on daily. Who would know, that William Hearst’s ramblings in his newspaper would still have a handhold on us almost a century later.
Although we know that people that use the marijuana respond differently to it. Some have no effects and others have grand ramifications. The point is, this little weed and other high risk merchant accounts have difficulties reaching a decision because of their fly by night methods. Because one man deemed this plant something of evil, and beyond reason, several other industries followed.
So, when searching for something, the lesson is, don’t discriminate until you have the entire story. You have no way of knowing, how it will affect everyone.