Marijuana has been illegal according to federal law since the passing of the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937, but that may soon change. A bipartisan bill is gaining significant support that will ease the legal issues for people in states, like Colorado and California, which have booming legal marijuana industries. For those operating business related to marijuana in states that have legalized different forms and uses of marijuana, they have still been technically breaking federal law. Lawmakers have long acknowledged the need for change, but it has been a long time coming.
Earlier this month, a bill was finally introduced that would help eliminate the contradictions between federal and state law, making activities related to marijuana (i.e. medical marijuana usage , reseaching of marijuana, and Vetran participation) that are legal according to the state they take place in legal for federal purposes as well. Rescheduling of marihuana will allow this industry to grow more rapidly and further remove the stigmata. Marijuana has become widely accepted in recent years, especially as a medicinal drug. Even recreational use has become more socially acceptable and legal in a growing number of areas. However, federal law continues to treat it as an illegal substance (schedule 1 drug), creating difficulties for business in tax reporting, interstate shipping, and financing.
Three U.S. senators are expected to introduce a bill into Congress today (3/10/15) that would legalize medical marijuana nationwide, a move advocates of marijuana legalization are applauding as an historic step toward ending the federal prohibition on a product whose medicinal applications are many. Experts described it as the most far-reaching medical marijuana bill ever to go to Congress and the first time such a bill has been seen in the Senate.
“This is a significant step forward when it comes to reforming marijuana laws at the federal level,” Dan Riffle, director of federal policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, said in an emailed statement. “The vast majority of Americans support laws that allow seriously ill people to access medical marijuana … The introduction of this legislation in the Senate demonstrates just how seriously this issue is being taken on Capitol Hill.”
Among other things, the bill would downgrade marijuana to Schedule 2 on the Drug Enforcement Agency’s classification system. As a Schedule 1 drug, marijuana currently is considered as having a “high potential for abuse” and “no … accepted medical use.”
Marijuana legalization proponents are gathering in San Francisco this weekend to hear about efforts to add the nation’s most populous — and arguably most pot-infused — state to the four others where it is now legal for adults to buy and use the drug recreationally.
The International Cannabis Business Conference on Sunday and Monday is expected to draw about 1,000 investors, entrepreneurs and activists from California and elsewhere for an overview of the legalization landscape.
Advocacy groups are now drafting a 2016 ballot initiative that could transform California from a place where only medical marijuana is legal to a global center of state-approved recreational weed.
The measure’s passage might seem like a foregone conclusion after voters in Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska legalized marijuana use and obliged their governments to develop guidelines for how and where pot can be grown, sold and taxed.
With one eye on a looming effort to legalize recreational marijuana in California, organizations representing the state’s cities and police officers are pushing a Sacramento-area lawmaker’s bill to regulate medical cannabis.
Assembly Bill 266, by Assemblyman Ken Cooley, D-Rancho Cordova, would set up a statewide regulatory scheme, but local jurisdictions would continue to have the final word on licensing medical marijuana growers and dispensaries.
For years, as legislators offered bills to impose rules on California’s teeming medical marijuana industry, law enforcement remained staunchly opposed. The aversion of cops to bills they saw as further legitimizing marijuana helped sway lawmakers to vote no.
That changed last year with a bill backed by the California Police Chiefs Association and the League of California Cities. The legislation failed, but now Cooley is carrying a follow-up bill he hopes will conclude what has become a perennial debate.
In February 2013, the Marijuana Tax Equity Act was introduced. This act was a joint effort by congressmen from Oregon and Colorado for the purpose of updating the federal treatment of marijuana to reflect a respect for state legalization laws. This act was developed to update the tax treatment of marijuana based businesses and gain federal recognition of legal marijuana in certain states.
If enacted, this act would have created a 50% tax on marijuana at the producer level, similar to taxes on tobacco and alcohol. Other provisions would have included specific fees and further study of the marijuana industry for additional reform. The 2013 Marijuana Tax Equity Act died in committee.
The objective of updating internal revenue code in reference to marijuana did not end with the death of the 2013 bill. Since that time, several other bills have been introduced in the interest of changing the federal laws regarding marijuana and states’ rights to regulate it.
