Can You Use Debit Card in Buying Marijuana Seeds Online?

Cannabis is at an all-time high in terms of popularity today. There are plenty of people using marijuana now than there has ever been in the past. As such, this paved a way for marijuana seed banks to become more prominent in the cannabis industry than they ever were. The great thing about seed banks is that you can use different payment methods for getting your seeds instead of the usual cash you need to use when you go to the nearby dispensary or licensed retail outlet. But can you buy cannabis seeds by debit card?

Well, before we get to that, it is first important to address why that question needs to be asked and why people are looking for different ways to pay for their cannabis seeds.

What are dispensaries and licensed retailers?

In places where either or both recreational and medical marijuana are legal, there are such things as dispensaries and licensed retail stores that sell marijuana to the public legally. In California and other states in the US where marijuana is legal both or either recreationally and medically, you can get your marijuana from dispensaries so long as you are legally allowed to do so. Meanwhile in Canada, though there are different laws governing who can buy marijuana, only those who are licensed can sell legal cannabis for the retail price.

The keyword you have to take note here is “legal”. You may be able to get your marijuana from other sources such as friends and contacts who grow their own stuff at home. You can even get your cannabis by growing them yourself. However, the ones you can get from dispensaries and retailers are the only ones you can carry and consume legally. Other sources are considered illegal.

What are cannabis seed banks?

Marijuana seed banks are entities that store cannabis seeds similar to how actual seed banks keep the seeds of different plant and crop species safe from any possible harm or threat to their continued existence. However, unlike the usual seed banks, marijuana seed banks exist not only to store the seeds they sourced from different breeders all over the world but also to sell them to prospective breeders and growers who want to get their hands on different types of strains that are difficult to purchase from legal marijuana dispensaries and retail stores.

Seed banks also are responsible for developing new types of strains. They have access to some of the most diverse range of strains available. As such, they can always crossbreed one strain with another in the hopes of creating a new strain that has all the great and desirable attributes of its parent strains. After stabilizing the genetics of the new strain, they make their seeds available for purchase.

Marijuana seed banks do not always have a physical store especially in places where cannabis is strictly regulated. As such, they mostly operate online and have websites where you can choose and purchase your marijuana seeds of choice. It is also through those websites that you pay for your seeds. After payment, all you have to do is to wait for your seeds to arrive at your doorstep.

Since cannabis seed banks are not legal in the sense that they are not licensed dispensaries or retailers, they make sure that they mail your seeds in the most stealthy way possible so that authorities will not be able to detect that what is in the package that is mailed to you are actually marijuana seeds or marijuana buds. Only the best marijuana seed banks deliver your seeds and buds in a stealthy manner.

How to pay for your marijuana seeds and buds?

1. Dispensaries and retailers

When you go to a dispensary or retailer, the only possible way for you to pay for your marijuana buds and seeds is through cash. But why is that? The Economist explains that retailers cannot use banks (credit or debit) as a mode of payment because the federal government of the United States classifies marijuana as a “Schedule 1” drug.

But what does that mean? It simply means that banks that handle any transaction involving marijuana or any other Schedule 1 drug can be charged with money laundering. And even if the bank is based overseas, it can still be subject to strict scrutiny from the federal government especially if the said foreign bank maintains correspondence with a bank based in the US. That is because the US Patriot Act can possibly put any foreign bank in a risky position of losing business with any US-based bank if it handles any transaction involving a Schedule 1 drug such as cannabis.

In short, banks will always be put at risk when it comes to transactions related to marijuana. As such, the only way for you to purchase legal cannabis from dispensaries and retailers is through cash.

But there is good news in relation to that as the state of California has now come up with a bill that can possibly reconcile banking institutions with transactions involving marijuana. This is in response to public safety issues that arise from carrying too much cash both on the part of the ones purchasing marijuana and on the part of the retailers that sell marijuana.

1. Seed banks

Cannabis seed banks offer a lot of different ways for you to pay for your cannabis seed. If you prefer cash, it is so simple to send money over to a lot of seed banks through snail mail. You can even use other digital modes such as online payment intermediaries and cryptocurrency to pay for your cannabis. And yes, you can also use your bank account to pay for your marijuana.

But why is that possible? That is because cannabis seed banks are stealthy. While it is indeed true that the entity is one that sells marijuana seeds and buds, most seed banks are stealthy enough to allow you to pay for your seeds through credit and debit without any indication that you are paying for marijuana.

In a sense, when you use your bank account to pay for your purchases from a cannabis seed bank, nothing in your billing statement will ever indicate that you are paying for marijuana-related products. That is of course if you are ordering from a reputable seed bank that is an expert in stealthy payment and delivery.

So, to answer the original question, yes, you can pay for your marijuana seeds and buds using debit. However, you can only do so when you are purchasing them for cannabis seed banks online and not from legal dispensaries and retailers.