Fed’s Williams sees ‘unsustainable tension’ on pot-related banking

By Reuters

Leaves of marijuana plants are seen at Japan's largest legal marijuana farm in Kanuma, Japan

RENO, Nev. (Reuters) – As more and more states legalize the use of marijuana, which is banned under U.S. federal laws, banks are facing “unsustainable tension” that needs to be resolved by Congress, San Francisco Fed President John Williams said on Tuesday.

“This is a big issue for this country,” Williams said after a speech to The Hayek Group in Reno, Nev., where voters will decide whether to legalize some uses of marijuana this November. Pot-related businesses don’t have access to the same bank-run electronic payment systems that are increasingly making transactions safer for most other U.S. businesses, he said.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)