Bill to Legalize Medical Marijuana in Congress – CARERS Act
Bipartisan medical marijuana legislation was released on Capitol Hill this week.
On Monday, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Rep. Don Young (R-AK), introduced legislation that would legalize medical marijuana on a Federal level.
The CARERS Act ‘‘Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect States Act of 2015’’ matches the Senate bill Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Rand Paul (R-KY) that was introduced a few weeks ago.
The bill would open up the medical marijuana industry by 1. Rescheduling marijuana (removing its Schedule 1 classification). 2. Allowing banks to service medical marijuana operations, 3. Allow for marijuana research 4. Allow for interstate commerce in certain situations and other various changes.
Marijuana enthusiasts seek to capitalize on evolving US pot laws
By Thomas Atkins
At AFP
From aspiring “bud tenders” to research scientists and Wall Street analysts, marijuana enthusiasts of every stripe gathered in Washington looking for ways to capitalize on America’s evolving pot laws.
Billions of dollars could be up for grabs in years to come as states allow medical marijuana or fully decriminalize the drug — even though it remains illegal under federal law.
In a scene unthinkable during the first two decades of America’s long-standing “war on drugs,” dozens of pot industry representatives squeezed into a swish hotel just a few blocks from the United States Capitol.
Several were raising money for cannabis ventures or looking to recruit staff but — aside from some futuristic-looking metal pipes and glass bongs — there was little of the paraphernalia one might ordinarily expect at a cannabis convention.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and you kind of need to jump on it now to be ahead of the game,” said Nicklaus Tilford, a Tennessee chef who had just given his resume to a Washington-based medicinal marijuana grower searching for a part-time “junior gardener.”
“It’s either now or never,” he said.
A total of 23 states have now legalized marijuana for medical use. Colorado, Washington state, Alaska, Oregon and the US capital have recently passed laws legalizing it altogether.
California Marijuana DUIs
By Aniko Hoover
At BestDUILawyer.com
It’s a very interesting time for Law in California. In California, Police routinely ignore new laws and policy and continue to raid grows and issue DUI’s to patients who have less than 5ng/ml of THC in their blood. While technically or scientifically speaking the police and district attorneys may be wrong, patients who think they are following the law, and possibly are following the law, routinely plead guilty in plea bargains to crimes even though technically they may be completely innocent. Most patients caught up in the legal system simply cannot afford the legal fees for private attorneys and for a trial which would require them to provide expert witnesses to prove their innocence. So, while the law may say you are legal to grow the plants you need and are legal to take your medicine, the law can be thrown out the window when the police stumble upon your grow or you pass through a DUI checkpoint.
As you may or may not know, 5ng/ml of THC is sort of a standard in determining whether or not someone will be charged with a DUI in states like Colorado and Washington or Montana for determining if someone is impaired because it is equated with driving that is similar to drunk driving.
Could This New Marijuana Study Smoke Pessimists?
By Sean Williams
At the Motley Fool
To put it mildly, marijuana is a complicated issue.
Over the past decade we’ve seen public opinion on the drug make a complete 180, moving from a majority of people preferring it remain illegal, to a majority of the public now favoring its legalization in some form (either medically or recreationally).
Marijuana’s dual allure
The rationale behind marijuana legalization takes two main forms. From the perspective of individual states, it offers a fresh way of generating tax revenue without having to boost taxes on all residents within a state. Both recreational and medical marijuana being prescribed/sold bear taxes that consumers pay. These taxes can help states bridge budget deficits without affecting all residents’ pocketbooks.
Source: GW Pharmaceuticals.
Legal Marijuana Providers Struggle with IRS
The complications caused by the conflict between state and federal law continues as dispensaries that are legal in their state of business attempt to file federal tax returns. Since the selling of marijuana is still a federal criminal act, filing a tax return admits illegal activity, but that is not the only problem. The tax law has code dealing with filing of illegal income. However, don’t think that you’re off the hook – the tax code limits the deductibility of expenses when it comes to illegal businesses.
According to the IRS Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 (CSA), taxes are due on the sale of controlled substances, such as heroin, opiates, and marijuana (including medical). As Al Capone’s case proves, tax evasion can turn out to be a larger problem than confessing to an illegal activity on your income tax return. As long as dispensaries are operating under state law, they do not need to fear federal prosecution of their business, but they may be in for a shock when they calculate their taxable income under the CSA code.
Section 61 of IRS Tax Code identifies gross income for business purposes and the business expenses that can be deducted to calculate taxable income. Though costs of doing business were originally allowed as deductions, Section 280E, enacted in 1982, specifically disallows the deduction of any expenses beyond costs of goods sold. Costs of goods sold (COGS) is defined as the inventoried costs of the substance sold (in our instance this would be cost of producing medical marijuana or reimbursement). As counterintuitive as this may seem, you get to deduct the “illegal” part but nothing else. Other related business expenses, such as office, admin or storefront costs, are disallowed.