The Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America calls on the federal government to legalize cannabis and recommends a regulatory framework. "The current state-federal conflict not only has negative consequences for cannabis consumers and non-consumers, but will also have long-term public health and safety implications that are too important to ignore."

US companies that deal directly with cannabis, a federally illegal substance, are already shut out of large banks. So these companies have increasingly found support in an estimated 200 to 700 smaller financial firms that serve them, including state-chartered banks. These are precisely the financial institutions that are at risk amid the turmoil that’s battered Signature Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, First Republic Bank and others.