The moment they accept a single dollar, they are money laundering profits from the sale of a schedule 1 controlled substance under federal law and risk steep penalties, including but not limited to fines and asset forfeiture under RICO.
Last thing they want is the government poking around.
I really don't think the states of CO and WA really thought this through when they legalized pot.
It's not going to be all giggles and sunshine.
Particularly with an "unfriendly" IRS.
A "conservative" or "republican" pot shop owner may find themselves doing hard time.
Depending on what side of the bed the Emperor wakes up on this particular day.
Too Big to Jail - How HSBC hooked up with drug traffickers and terrorists. And got away with it
Feb 14, 2013
The deal was announced quietly, just before the holidays, almost like the government was hoping people were too busy hanging stockings by the fireplace to notice. Flooring politicians, lawyers and investigators all over the world, the U.S. Justice Department granted a total walk to executives of the British-based bank HSBC for the largest drug-and-terrorism money-laundering case ever.
Yes, they issued a fine – $1.9 billion, or about five weeks' profit – but they didn't extract so much as one dollar or one day in jail from any individual, despite a decade of stupefying abuses.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2988948/posts