The Senate majority leader has repeatedly blocked a bill that would address the robbery threat to state-licensed pot shops.

A recent robbery at Best Buds, a marijuana dispensary in Portland, Oregon, was "so violent" that it "sent shockwaves through the industry," Willamette Week reports. "Thieves pistol-whipped one employee and shot at another as he emerged from the restroom with his hands up."

That was not an isolated incident. Willamette Week notes that "crime at cannabis shops exploded during the pandemic, culminating in the killing of a North Portland budtender in late 2020." During the first half of this year, the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission counted 12 robberies of licensed pot stores, which are ripe targets because a dearth of financial services forces them to rely heavily on cash.

That situation is a by-product of the continuing federal ban on marijuana, which makes banks leery of serving cannabis suppliers. The problem would have been solved by now but for resistance from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D–N.Y.), who has insisted that his own legalization bill take priority over the SAFE Banking Act, which would eliminate the threat of criminal, civil, and regulatory penalties for providing financial services to state-authorized marijuana businesses.

Amazingly, the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), which has long supported marijuana reform, joins Schumer in opposing the SAFE Banking Act. When the bill was included in the House version of last year's National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the organization said it was essential to "keep the SAFE Banking Act OUT of this omnibus bill" because enacting the legislation would amount to "prioritiz[ing] marijuana profits over people." The bizarre implication was that marijuana merchants, who face an ongoing danger aggravated by the failure to approve banking reform, do not qualify as "people."