Medical-marijuana dispensaries run into trouble at the bank

[Yo_Mama]

7. They can't

Banking is a regulated industry in the US. Who starts a bank or credit union is regulated.

BSA (the law under which this is being done) controls even non banks, so even if the dispensary owners were to gather together and start a non-bank money service business that would take cash and make payments electronically, they would still be subject to these laws.

This is one way the feds can pretty much shut them down. FinCEN:
http://www.fincen.gov/

Money services businesses have to follow all these laws too:
http://www.fincen.gov/financial_institutions/msb/

The Feds are tightening down even on the prepaid card business:
http://www.fincen.gov/news_room/nr/html/20120314.html