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Marijuana shops

Safety, fairness require changes to laws

The exact conditions vary from state to state, but marijuana is now legal in an increasing number of places across the United States. It is time for the federal government to catch up. Fairness, public safety and simple justice demand as much.

Colorado voters first legalized medical marijuana in 2000. They then voted to legalize the sale and possession of small amounts for recreational use in 2012. One can agree or disagree, but the fact is that, in legally constrained circumstances, it is no longer against the law in this state for adults to have, sell and use pot.

Washington state voted to legalize marijuana at the same time Colorado did. Since then, Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia have, too. Another 23 states permit medical marijuana, and nine more have passed bills allowing the use of cannabis-extract oil by people with severe epilepsy.

Legal marijuana is not a fluke or an isolated case. At least when it comes to that part of the war on drugs, the voters have chosen a separate peace.

The problem is that marijuana remains a federally classified Schedule I drug – in the same category as heroin, LSD, ecstasy and peyote.

(How much pharmacology went into those classifications, and how much was politics and hysteria? Cocaine, meth and OxyContin are Schedule II. See the whole list at www.dea.gov/druginfo/ds.shtml).

The state-by-state legalization of marijuana was made possible because the federal government essentially agreed to look the other way. But because marijuana remains a Schedule I narcotic under federal law, there are other ramifications.

Probably the most onerous effects tie back to the war on drugs. When it comes to legal pot shops, the most basic problem with federal law is that because of stringent rules and tough enforcement aimed at real drug trafficking, no bank can do business with anyone who sells Schedule I drugs. A statewide vote and a state-issued license do not matter.

The upshot is that all legal marijuana sellers – medical, recreational, in Colorado or elsewhere – operate on a cash-only basis. And everyone knows it. That is not only an inconvenience, but a serious security problem and a real public-safety issue.

Another problem affects not safety but fairness. Under the Internal Revenue Code, any business that sells drugs listed on Schedule I or II cannot deduct business expenses such as advertising, employee wages or lease payments. So, legal marijuana shops pay an effective tax rate of 70 percent or more.

There are several levels of irony in that one, but in the end, it is a simple question of fairness. There is no reason a business the voters have legalized and the state has licensed should be singled out and penalized by the IRS.

At least that provision is being addressed. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, has sponsored a bill to exempt legal marijuana businesses from that particular IRS rule. Congress should pass it.

The larger issue is how the federal government should handle legal marijuana. The contradiction between state-legalized marijuana and federal law is not sustainable. And with more than half the states allowing some form of legalized pot use, the change needs to come from the federal level.

The easiest way may be to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule IV or V along with Valium or codeine cough syrup.

However it is done, people do not deserve to be endangered or penalized for engaging in commerce specifically approved by the voters.



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