Butler's homegrown medical marijuana grower-processor will be one of three dispensaries in the region to start selling the drug in plant form later this week.

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania's medical marijuana industry finds itself facing a unique and potentially dangerous challenge; the inability to participate in the banking industry.

Because medical marijuana remains illegal under federal law, most banks will not accept accounts or any business at all from purveyors of medical marijuana or those in its ancillary industries.

The situation has resulted in a “cash and carry” system of finance, which could prove dangerous for those transporting large amounts of cash from place to place.

It also opens an avenue for unscrupulous purveyors to get around state financial regulations.

The state Department of Banking and Securities, under the direction of Gov. Tom Wolf, has sent a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other congressional leaders to ask for safeguards for the state's banking industry.

The letter is also signed by banking officials from 12 other states facing the same issue.

Trent Hartley, the co-founder of Cresco Yeltrah, whose first medical marijuana store opened on Pillow Street in Butler, commended Wolf for his leadership in recognizing the challenges of medical cannabis companies in the inability to use traditional banking systems.

“As more and more states are adding cannabis programs as an alternative to lethal opioids, we are optimistic that Congress will recognize who beneficial this industry is and pass legislation making banking available,” Hartley said in a statement.

Read the full story in the Butler Eagle.