Florida Candidate's Bank Account closed over for supporting Medical Marijuana

Posted by Sagar Satapathy on August 25, 2018.

Wells Fargo closed the campaign bank account of a Florida candidate for state office after discovering that she supports medical marijuana.

Wells Fargo closed the campaign bank account of Nikki Fried, a Democrat running for agriculture commissioner.

She had opened the account in June shortly after she qualified for the Cabinet race. However, within weeks, officials with the financial giant began questioning Fried and her campaign staff because of her “political platform” and her links to the marijuana industry.

Fried, who has described herself as "one of most visible faces and key activists in Florida's burgeoning medical cannabis industry,” has touted further expansion of the state’s medical marijuana program as her highest priority. Besides, she also ran a lobbying firm.

According to the New York Times, the Wells Fargo began to notice Fried, as she was advocating for expanded patient access to medical marijuana, and asked the campaign whether it was receiving money from lobbyists in the industry.

While answering to the bank’s query, the campaign said that Fried would also receive donations from "executives, employees and corporations in the medical marijuana industry." Following this, Wells Fargo issued a written notice to the campaign last week saying that it would be closing its account.

After receiving the written notice, Fried, meanwhile, has urged her supporters to consider pulling their money from the bank. She also opened a new campaign account at BB&T.

"This is absolutely unprecedented," she told the Times in a telephone interview. "I've been in this campaign since the beginning of June. Everybody in Florida knows that I'm one of the main proponents of the expansion of medical marijuana."

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