Bowing to pressure from the U. S. federal government, California medical marijuana dispensaries have stopped accepting credit cards.

According to a recent SF Weekly report, credit card companies might have been told by the Treasury Department not to process credit card transactions that involve medical marijuana.

Separately, Stephen DeAngelo of Oakland's Harborside Health Center - the Bay Area's largest dispensary – said that merchant services providers had been warned that they would lose their relationships with Visa and Mastercard forever or face hefty fines if they processed medical marijuana sales.

Accounts of clients of marijuana dispensaries had been closed on 1st of July.

It may be noted here that credit card transactions between retailers and the banks & credit card companies are processed by merchant services providers.

Meanwhile, Citizens for Patient Rights have submitted more than sixteen hundred signatures to the Solana Beach authorities on a proposal to allow for not-for-profit medical marijuana dispensaries in the Solana Beach municipality. In 2010, more than half (55 percent) of Solana Beach residents voted for the complete standardization of marijuana for adult use.