Orlando bank will accept money from medical marijuana

First Green Bank founder, Ken La Roe, credits medical marijuana with easing his wife's pain after an accident.

“In six months was able to completely get off the seizure medication and six months later it completely cured her seizures,” La Roe said.

He says the medical marijuana industry is sprouting across the country. But few banks want to touch their finances, and he says that's putting people's health at risk. “It's really a public safety issue that this industry can't be banked and safely have banking services and do it all in cash.”

He said it's not just the folks selling the medical marijuana having the problem. “The physicians, the lawyers, the guy that's selling fertilizer,” he explained, “they've all got the same problem of not being able to find a bank.”

First Green Bank has been providing banking services to these companies. La Roe says helping medical marijuana businesses do business is part of his bank's founding principles.

“I wrote a 21 page white paper, presented it to the board of directors, we had a robust debate and then unanimous approval to go forward with the program,” La Roe said.

La Roe added that six of the seven licensed dispensaries in the area are customers of his bank.