Two city council members in California, Ben Bartlett and Dianne Martinez became the first elected officials to use cryptocurrency to purchase marijuana from a dispensary. According a press release issued by council member Bartlett, the city counsel members used a stable coin which is a form of a cryptocurrency to purchase weed as a proof of concept of how smoothly and transparent the cannabis world would be with crypto in it.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
— Rigel Robinson (@RigelRobinson) September 11, 2019
Berkeley Councilmember @BenBartlettCA and Emeryville Councilmember @EmeryvilleDi become the first elected officials to buy cannabis with cryptocurrency in history (probably, idk) with help from @EvilleAlly pic.twitter.com/gRTHFW2Zvc
In a photo taken at the dispensary, Ben Bartlett is holding up a pamphlet for VetCBD, a low-THC, high-CBD tincture that’s used to treat conditions such as anxiety and pain in pets. It’s not clear what Martinez purchased from the shop.
The council members also explained that introducing digital assets into the cannabis world will go a long way to ease tax collection. Therefore, they call for a modern solution, which in this context refers to creating a legislation that permits local jurisdictions in California to determine and implement a method by which a licensee under [the state’s legal cannabis program] may remit any city or county cannabis license tax amounts due by payment using stablecoins.
In California, legislation that allowed credit unions to accept cannabis businesses as clients, was recently pulled. There are plans to reintroduce it next year
