The state’s newly legal cannabis market is expected to bring in millions — if not billions — of dollars once fully operating. New Jersey is now the 18th state to allow the sale of recreational cannabis. But because the sale of recreational pot is still illegal on the federal level, most banks are waiting for the regulatory environment to clear up before dealing with the industry. This means that dispensaries are cash-only and the entrepreneurs running them are left vulnerable to a wide range of problems that come with it.

“The cannabis industry in New Jersey is still a cash-only industry until the SAFE Banking Act is passed, leaving risk to the business owner in terms of transportation, storage of the cash, so we’re really advocating for the SAFE Banking Act in the state of New Jersey,” said Nichelle Santos of CannaCoverage risk management and insurance consulting. “We have two or three banks that bank with cannabis business owners,” she said.

Assemblyman Raj Mukerji (D-Hudson) says, “The problem is that ‘Big Cannabis,’ the corporate conglomerates that are publicly traded in Canada and whatnot, they have access to banking.”

“The big money interests just want to make the banking elements of this legal. We are not getting the kind of support for restorative justice elements like expunging people’s records,” said U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) of the SAFE Banking Act. “We need to make sure we do this in partnership with looking out for those people who have disproportionately been arrested and incarcerated for marijuana possession.”