Pubdate: Wed, 17 Dec 2014
Source: Colorado Springs Independent (CO)
Column: CannaBiz
Copyright: 2014 Colorado Springs Independent
Contact:  http://www.csindy.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1536
Author: Bryce Crawford

COUPLE SAYS BANK ACCOUNT CLOSED FOR CANNABIS, GUN GROUP SEEKS NEW LAW AND MORE.

Cruel and unusual

Institutions like JPMorgan Chase Bank have made it clear they will 
not work with the marijuana industry until it's federally legal to do 
so. It's never been clear that it wouldn't accept accounts from 
people who buy from the industry. But that's the situation allegedly 
facing couple Joy Wood and Phil Rockwell.

Wood, a 44-year-old alcohol counselor, says she first got an inkling 
that her bank account was in trouble when her phone bill payments 
bounced in recent months. She looked and found two phone payments had 
been rejected, she says, as well as two rent payments. In short 
order, the couple was evicted from Champions at Nor'wood. (The 
apartment complex would not confirm personal information when 
contacted by the Indy.)

Chase refused to specify the reason for the termination, Wood says 
(and Chase did not respond to requests for comment). The reason 
didn't dawn on her, she says, until Rockwell, 47, found his account 
had been closed last week and they visited the bank's fraud division 
where she says certain transactions were circled by an employee as problematic.

"The Branch manager told us the account was restricted and Chase no 
longer wished to continue a relationship. When she circled all 
dispensary purchases as possibly questionable in her opinion, it 
dawned on me that my account had been closed for the very same reason 
a month prior," Wood writes in an email. The charges were incurred at 
Medical Cannabis Caregivers, according to a bank printout. "Honestly, 
that's the craziest thing I've ever heard," responded MCC manager 
Robert Pecqueur when contacted. He added that he could not reveal 
customer information.

In a follow-up phone call, a sobbing Wood says the couple experiences 
constant pain from carbon-monoxide poisoning, and that her identity 
was stolen at the same time her account was being closed, resulting 
in a rash of confusing charges and overdraft fees still owed the 
bank. Rockwell also has funds on hold, he says Chase has told him, as 
the bank waits to issue remaining monies and close the account until 
all checks have cleared.

"We are evicted and staying in a hotel," Wood says, adding: "I lost 
everything."

You get a gun, you get a gun

Colorado group Guns for Everyone (gunsforeveryone.com) is pushing for 
a state initiative that would not disallow marijuana users from 
receiving concealed-carry licenses. The current application asks if 
the gun owner is an "unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana." 
The Durango Herald reports the effort would need 86,105 signatures to 
place the question on the ballot if it is certified by the title board.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom