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662 points JacobHenner | 53 comments | | HN request time: 0.959s | source | bottom
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mannyv ◴[] No.40214223[source]
One major effect of this is that weed stores will be able to use banks and payment processors legally once the regulators catch up.
replies(17): >>40214302 #>>40214371 #>>40214681 #>>40214723 #>>40214802 #>>40214840 #>>40215087 #>>40215094 #>>40215242 #>>40215259 #>>40215926 #>>40216092 #>>40216174 #>>40217047 #>>40217090 #>>40218919 #>>40227379 #
andrewxdiamond ◴[] No.40214371[source]
A lot of them have wiggled around this problem by offering “atms” at the cash register. You pay with a debit card, but it’s not a normal transaction, it’s an ATM withdrawal! I don’t understand how the money is vended to the business, but it keeps it out of the store
replies(8): >>40214632 #>>40214642 #>>40214762 #>>40214782 #>>40214788 #>>40214845 #>>40217657 #>>40218370 #
1. bobthepanda ◴[] No.40214788[source]
there is still a lot of cash on site due to the presence of an ATM though, and in the cash registers. the primary problem is that weed shops are incredibly attractive robbery targets due to being one of the few businesses in 2024 that handle large amounts of cash.
replies(4): >>40214821 #>>40214926 #>>40216043 #>>40217348 #
2. CydeWeys ◴[] No.40214821[source]
I think the ATM isn't actually dispensing cash. You're doing an ATM transaction for a certain amount of money, but what you're actually getting is weed.

It's not just "You can buy with cash, and we conveniently have an ATM available to get cash if you didn't go to your bank."

replies(2): >>40215762 #>>40216254 #
3. filoleg ◴[] No.40214926[source]
Often enough, it isn’t an actual ATM. You pay at the counter like you usually would using a card or an NFC payment method (e.g., Apple Pay), but the payment reader processes it as an ATM withdrawal transaction (hence an extra transaction fee of a few dollars). There is no physical cash involved at any point in this (at least not on the dispensary premises).
replies(3): >>40215046 #>>40215774 #>>40216920 #
4. BobaFloutist ◴[] No.40215046[source]
Sure, for people that want to pay 5$ more for every transaction.

Probably a good number of people don't.

replies(1): >>40215287 #
5. Vegenoid ◴[] No.40215287{3}[source]
Where I’ve been, they round up to the nearest multiple of 5, and the extra you pay is kept as credit on your account towards future purchases.
replies(2): >>40217445 #>>40242351 #
6. mikestew ◴[] No.40215762[source]
It's not just "You can buy with cash, and we conveniently have an ATM available to get cash if you didn't go to your bank."

I have heard from a very reliable source that the ATMs in most weed shops on the Eastside of Seattle dispense cash because you're going to be required to pay with cash at the counter. There are allegedly a few exceptions, but the majority of shops accept only cash and the ATM dispenses bills.

replies(1): >>40215909 #
7. bobthepanda ◴[] No.40215774[source]
Maybe this is a state by state thing? I have never observed this in WA.
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8. mikestew ◴[] No.40215789{3}[source]
I've heard Origins in Redmond does this, IIRC. But I believe that to be the exception, not the rule.
9. hughesjj ◴[] No.40215909{3}[source]
Out of the 15+ SWIM has been to in WA state, SWIM has never seen a dispensary take anything but physical cash (bills and coins).
10. mattmaroon ◴[] No.40216043[source]
My brother supervises at a dispensary. They are not attractive robbery targets at all. They have a lot of security. Like a bank, they expect the amount of cash would bring trouble if they were not prepared. Unlike a bank, they don't dispense much cash (just petty change) so they don't even have to leave much in the drawers, which are emptied frequently and dropped into a safe nobody there can access.

They have cash-handling processes similar to a casino, but again, they have much less than a casino or bank to take.

Employee theft is a much bigger problem than robbery, because you can imagine who works at them, but even then, it's hard to get away with.

You'd be much better off robbing a busy gas station or the like.

replies(3): >>40216199 #>>40216348 #>>40216757 #
11. flawsofar ◴[] No.40216199[source]
> you can imagine who works at them

This is disgracefully elitist. White collar crime hurts more people.

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12. 14u2c ◴[] No.40216254[source]
Nope, it's just a regular ATM operated by a 3rd party company. You get cash from it then give them the cash. The store will also often reimburse for the ATM fee.
replies(1): >>40217774 #
13. yogurtboy ◴[] No.40216348[source]
That dig at employees of dispensaries is really low
replies(1): >>40217452 #
14. Spivak ◴[] No.40216652{3}[source]
Golden rule of customer service is you can not demand service while simultaneously degrading the people who provide it to you.
15. chimpanzee ◴[] No.40216757[source]
> Employee theft is a much bigger problem than robbery, because you can imagine who works at them

This is lazy thinking.

Any business dealing in cash and desirable inventory will have theft problems. In fact, the inventory doesn’t even have to be desirable. Consider office supply theft. It’s rampant; a cost of business to some degree. And part of the motivation is simply the righting of perceived wrongs.

Employees will always take from their employers, in every industry and at every class level. In industries where there are no “things” to take, the employees simply take back their time.

16. neilv ◴[] No.40216920[source]
Is the payment service operating in a regulatory gray area or loophole?
17. leptons ◴[] No.40217348[source]
> the primary problem is that weed shops are incredibly attractive robbery targets due to being one of the few businesses in 2024 that handle large amounts of cash.

It's also the product that's the target much of the time - it's got no serial numbers and it's light-weight, and easy to resell.

18. millzlane ◴[] No.40217445{4}[source]
That's kinda shitty. They just give us the 5 back cash.
19. millzlane ◴[] No.40217452{3}[source]
I've known directors to steal from companies so the stereotype doesn't really jive.
20. CydeWeys ◴[] No.40217774{3}[source]
Nope, see other comments. My interpretation is correct.
21. mattmaroon ◴[] No.40218302{3}[source]
I see why you would say that, but you probably have not met very many people who work at a dispensary, I have. My brother got promoted to supervisor in a month for the simple reason that he is the only person who could wait until after work to get high.

He’s told me quite a bit of what goes on there, and I am sure different dispensaries are different, but in any state where it is relatively recently legalized and there aren’t that many, it’s just the biggest stoners working there. You would have to be kind of special to decide to steal things with that much security around, they always get caught

replies(2): >>40218967 #>>40220333 #
22. flawsofar ◴[] No.40218967{4}[source]
I as a customer an hour ago had a long conversation with a friend I made behind the counter.

Some software engineers do partake of the weed. So yeah I’ve met them.

Tattoos, piercings? They’re just people.

Getting high isn’t a sign of larceny

replies(1): >>40219138 #
23. dragonwriter ◴[] No.40218969{3}[source]
The federal illegality of the weed business (and downstream effects of that illegality on working/business conditions) affects who works there, and that includes white collar employees (also investors, etc.)
replies(1): >>40221663 #
24. ◴[] No.40219102{3}[source]
25. mattmaroon ◴[] No.40219138{5}[source]
I didn’t say it was. I just said employee theft is a bigger problem than robbery.
replies(1): >>40219951 #
26. kelseyfrog ◴[] No.40219951{6}[source]
> you can imagine who works at them

You might want to be more careful then. This empty space is a well known rhetorical device used to allude that you're making a negative judgement about people.

replies(2): >>40221445 #>>40221705 #
27. DonHopkins ◴[] No.40220333{4}[source]
Which is why if you want to steal from dispensaries, just work in security, like your brother. Who's to say he's not stealing, and simply not bragging to you about it?
replies(1): >>40221459 #
28. mattmaroon ◴[] No.40221445{7}[source]
What it meant was, if you work at a place with all the cash controls of a casino, you have to be stoned to steal petty cash from them. You’re going to get caught, and you’re going to get a felony over a small amount of money. Nobody sober does that.

It was not meant as “all stoners are thieves” but as “you’d have to be high to think that’s a good idea”. And since nearly everyone who works at a dispensary is high all day every day, it happens, a lot more than armed robbery which almost never does.

replies(1): >>40222661 #
29. mattmaroon ◴[] No.40221459{5}[source]
I said he’s a supervisor, not in security. He’s not an idiot. He’d be caught very quickly. Cash controls are such that everyone is.

I don’t know if every state is like mine, but here they have to do complete inventory every night. You can steal but they’ll know it happened by the end of the day and then start checking the footage. It happens.

replies(1): >>40222691 #
30. mattmaroon ◴[] No.40221663{4}[source]
Definitely. There are a lot of strange quirks to working at one.

For instance, Fannie and Freddie don’t recognize your income, so getting a mortgage is difficult.

The pay isn’t that great either, but they get a discount, and for a lot of people weed is one of their bigger expenses.

31. flawsofar ◴[] No.40222652{8}[source]
Don’t bully people for smoking a plant. Easy.
replies(1): >>40229095 #
32. flawsofar ◴[] No.40222661{8}[source]
This is like a tour of logical fallacies. How about some data?
replies(1): >>40224158 #
33. flawsofar ◴[] No.40222691{6}[source]
Thank god he was smart enough to avoid becoming a security guard, the natural path to thievery.

But he is high every single moment at work by your reasoning, yes?

replies(1): >>40225777 #
34. mattmaroon ◴[] No.40224158{9}[source]
I don’t think there is much data to be had, at least public. But I can tell you in the 5 years my brother has been there, they have had zero armed robbery attempts, and several employee theft attempts. And a quick Google about whether dispensaries get robbed frequently will show you people from the industry saying the same thing.

But no, no data, only anecdotes. Still, I feel like only somebody who has never been in a dispensary would think they are attractive robbery target. I’ve been in them and maybe 10 states, and they are all pretty tight Security, because they know they have a lot of cash and people would like to steal it.

35. mattmaroon ◴[] No.40225777{7}[source]
I’m not sure you even read the comment you were replying to. Click “parent” a few times and you’ll see “My brother got promoted to supervisor in a month for the simple reason that he is the only person who could wait until after work to get high.”
replies(2): >>40231500 #>>40231636 #
36. olyjohn ◴[] No.40228335{3}[source]
Definitely seen it here in WA. It's just not very common.
37. rayiner ◴[] No.40229095{9}[source]
Why? Society doesn’t owe you acceptance for your personal choices. For the vast majority of people, smoking marijuana is an anti-social choice that makes them a less productive member of society. Why should anyone have something other than a negative opinion of such a choice?
replies(2): >>40230913 #>>40231492 #
38. kelseyfrog ◴[] No.40230913{10}[source]
Judging people is wrong. This isn't a controversial statement.
replies(2): >>40230936 #>>40232114 #
39. eurleif ◴[] No.40230936{11}[source]
"Wrong" is a judgment. Why are you judging people for judging people?
replies(1): >>40231716 #
40. flawsofar ◴[] No.40231492{10}[source]
What if being productive to society is actually harmful?
replies(2): >>40232119 #>>40232124 #
41. flawsofar ◴[] No.40231500{8}[source]
yeah and you missed the irony mocking that very comment
42. gorlilla ◴[] No.40231636{8}[source]
I'm not sure you read your own words to try and see why everyone seems to not understand what it was you keep saying you meant.

"And since nearly everyone who works at a dispensary is high all day every day,"

Be careful in dealing in generalities and infinitives.by your own logic, your brother is simply an exception that proves a rule.

Your own words have worked harder against you than anything that any of these replies stated.

43. kelseyfrog ◴[] No.40231716{12}[source]
If you're arguing that judging people is ok, I think you could do a better job than tu quoque.
replies(1): >>40232967 #
44. rayiner ◴[] No.40232114{11}[source]
No it's not. Judging people is extremely important in order to enforce social conformity and norms. It's how we as social animals maintain civilization.
replies(1): >>40319070 #
45. ◴[] No.40232119{11}[source]
46. rayiner ◴[] No.40232124{11}[source]
It's not. It's why you're not living in a hut, or worse.
replies(1): >>40319057 #
47. eurleif ◴[] No.40232967{13}[source]
"You judged someone on a separate occasion, so you can't object to judging people now" would be tu quoque. What I actually did was point out the internal contradiction in your stated position.
replies(1): >>40242930 #
48. filoleg ◴[] No.40242315{3}[source]
It feels like it is a state-by-state thing, yeah. I moved from WA to NYC just half a year ago, and I noticed it as well.

In WA, it felt like it was a pretty even 50/50 split (maybe with a heavier lean towards cash) between places accepting cash-only and those that accept debit as well (in addition to cash obviously). I dont remember any that accepted credit cards. All of this is a more recent situation though, as I still remember that just 6-8 years ago, pretty much every single place used to be cash-only. I also noticed some dispensaries experimenting with rather unconvential methods at different points in time too (e.g., Uncle Ike’s using a payment terminal for like a year that worked similarly to a regular debit card one, but it was using crypto as an intermediate medium on the backend to process the payment).

In NYC, it feels like everyone just accepts cards like usual, from grey-market ones to the legal ones.

However, I infinitely prefer the WA situation with cannabis over the NYC one for bajillion other reasons that are entirely unrelated to payment methods.

49. filoleg ◴[] No.40242351{4}[source]
I’ve seen the rounding up situation a lot, but I am yet to see one where they just didnt give you back the rest as cash change.
50. kelseyfrog ◴[] No.40242930{14}[source]
Sorry, I just don't think that arguing that it's ok to judge people is viable. It seems to be very important to you, however.
replies(1): >>40243064 #
51. eurleif ◴[] No.40243064{15}[source]
I've said a total of four sentences on the matter, none of which hinted at its importance or lack thereof to me, so it's interesting that you've come to that conclusion. Either way, my internal motivations are a non sequitur. You are continuing to take a self-contradictory position by stating that a certain behavior, namely judgment, is not "ok", which constitutes a judgment. You have offered no defense of doing so. Should I conclude that you simply believe that oxymoronic positions can in fact be correct?
52. flawsofar ◴[] No.40319057{12}[source]
Those who build weapons to kill children, then, are productivity heroes.
53. flawsofar ◴[] No.40319070{12}[source]
Please tell me more about your desire to “civilize” people through conformity to your chosen social norms