Tuesday July 05th 2016
“I didn’t care if I died – I was completely insane.”
That’s what 23-year-old Daniel Chong told reporters after he was abandoned in his cell for 5 days after a 4/20 Drug Enforcement Agency raid at UC San Diego.1 Handcuffed, Read More and DO Something about this)
To the Editor:
In a recent press release opposing legislation to allow farmers to grow industrial hemp, sildenafil the White House drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, has shown a stunning ignorance about the plant, stating ”all parts of the plant, including hemp, can contain THC (a psychoactive ingredient in marijuana), a Schedule I controlled substance.” In the world of scientific reality, the amounts of THC found in industrial hemp – even in the flowers – are so minute as to be meaningless. But the amounts of THC found in hemp fiber are so low as to be undetectable, which is why hemp fiber products are legal in the United States.
A few examples of the usefulness of industrial hemp are in order. Because of its resistance to degrading, American hemp was the best product for ship’s ropes and rigging during our American Revolution and financed a large part of it. The oil from pressed hemp seeds is both nutritious (highest plant source of omega-3 fatty acids) and can be used as a diesel biofuel. The resultant seed cake rivals soy as a protein source and has essential amino acids. The long fibers from the plant make an excellent source for fabric and high-grade paper (the original drafts of our Constitution were made from hemp paper). The rest of the biomass can be used as a nutritious animal feedstock. It has a thick root system with a taproot over three feet long, markedly lessening desertification (soil loss/runoff). Finally, since the biochemistry of the plant kingdom differs, the hemp plant does better with increasing ultraviolet radiation (think ozone hole), the rice plant does not, making hemp seed cakes a much more valuable nutrition source as we advance into the 21st century.
However, Kerelikowske also said ”America’s farmers deserve our nation’s help and support to ensure rural America’s prosperity and vitality.”
Every other industrial nation allows hemp farming. In a time of economic recession, we should be promoting industrial hemp for its economic potential, especially since the American climate is very suitable for producing high quality hemp and the world market is growing.
The simplest and most effective way to start this economic progress is to completely remove hemp from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration drug Schedule I, which prohibits it. This change could be made immediately by a presidential order to the DEA drug czar.
I remember President Obama campaigning on effective change. The time to start is now.
Gene Tinelli
Jamesville
UPDATE:
“…or other area or premises that is accessible to the public, PDF here)
Is your center accessible to the public? No
Is your center within a private dwelling? No
Colorado Revised Statues: Title 18 Professions and Occupations Article 18 Uniform Controlled Substances Act of 1992
18-18-407. Special offender (II)(B)(2)(a) states the following:
(2) (a) A defendant shall be a special offender if the defendant is convicted of selling, help distributing, possessing with intent to distribute, manufacturing, or attempting to manufacture any controlled substance in violation of section 18-18-405 either within or upon the grounds of any public or private elementary, middle, junior high, or high school, vocational school, or public housing development, or within one thousand feet of the perimeter of any such school or public housing development grounds on any street, alley, parkway, sidewalk, public park, playground, or other area or premises that is accessible to the public, or within any private dwelling that is accessible to the public for the purpose of the sale, distribution, use, exchange, manufacture, or attempted manufacture of controlled substances in violation of this article, or in any school bus as defined in section 42-1-102 (88), C.R.S., while such school bus is engaged in the transportation of persons who are students at any public or private elementary, middle, junior high, or high school. The court is required in addition to imposing the sentence to imprisonment in the department of corrections required by subsection (1) of this section, to fine the defendant without suspension at least twice the minimum fine provided for in section 18-1.3-401 (1)
Hello fellow pioneer,
By now you know about the feds cracking down on centers within 1000’ of schools.
ACT4CO is getting into this fight on behalf of our patients and our members. Whether or not you are directly affected, this impacts are whole industry. Just because you have not received a letter does not mean you are home free.
The federal district attorney’s office has said that this is only the first wave, so don’t look at it as competition being eliminated….you may be next. The reason I say this is that in addtion to schools, in California, the feds have identified parks and public pools as other zones with 1,000’ restrictions. Here is a direct quote from section 860 of the U.S. code:
So, as you might imagine, the feds are likely to try and chew us up in small bites. 23 centers doesn’t sound like a lot to the general public, and if they do this over and over again, they will reduce our numbers over time to the point where they can go after everyone at once. They can’t do it very well at the moment because of our large numbers.
This is a beachead. If we don’t put up a fight for “the targeted 23” here, then they will push forward with another round, and another until they whittle us down to nothing. I am reminded of the famous quote from Martin Niemoller about the Nazis:
ACT4CO is participating with other local, state and national industry organizations such as CBA, Colorado Springs Medical Cannabis Council, MMBA, Vicente Consulting, MMIG, NCIA,DPA, MPP, SSDP, and various MMJ lawyers to respond to this threat to our patients and businesses. It is our contention that this unilateral move on the part of John Walsh is not in conformance with the policy Attorney General Holder stated in last month’s congressional testimony. We will be working on three fronts, legal, political, and public relations. You will see a joint press release coming out soon.
We urge you to come to the MMBA meeting on 1/19 at Casselmans to learn more about this threat and potential responses in the legal, political and public relations arenas.
If you or a center you know has received a letter, please have them contact Josh Kappel atVicente Consulting) is taking the lead on pulling people together to fight this. They need to see as many of the letters as possible so they can figure out what (if any) differences there may be between the letters and to see what the commonalities are. This is needed to try to divine the direction of the federal district attorney and develop a response.
Nicholas King, President
Posted in MSNBC
In a potentially crushing blow to the burgeoning medical marijuana industry, ampoule the IRS has ruled that dispensaries cannot deduct standard business expenses such as payroll, security or rent.
Harborside Health Center, one of the nation’s largest medical marijuana dispensaries and considered a model for the industry, is on the hook for $2.5 million in taxes from 2007 and 2008. That is $2 million more than the Oakland, Calif.-based company paid for those tax years.
“I see only two outcomes here,” said Steve DeAngelo, director and chief executive of Harborside. “Either this IRS assessment has to change or we go out of business. There really isn’t a middle ground for us.”
DeAngelo says the ruling will likely be appealed. He has 90 days to respond to the ruling.
The IRS ruling is based on an obscure portion of the tax code — section 280E — passed into law by Congress in 1982, at the height of Reagan administration’s “war on drugs.” The law, originally targeted at drug kingpins and cartels, bans any tax deductions related to “trafficking in controlled substances.”
Although 16 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws allowing medical use of marijuana, the federal government still considers it a Schedule I drug, the most restrictive category with the harshest penalties.
The Internal Revenue Service refused to comment on the specific case, but letters sent from Andrew Keyso, IRS deputy associate chief counsel, to some members of Congress spell out the official position:
“Section 280E of the Code disallows deductions incurred in the trade or business of trafficking in controlled substances that federal law or the law of any state in which the taxpayer conducts the business prohibits. For this purpose, the term “controlled substances” has the meaning provided in the Controlled Substances Act. Marijuana falls within the Controlled Substances Act.”
The news has spread rapidly through the cannabis community and is likely to have a chilling effect on businesses.
“We are all a bit nervous and frustrated,” said Ken Estes, owner of Patient To Patient Group Collective in San Jose, Calif. “We have tried to comply with every city, state and federal law. We ask for input from all the agencies. But we are still being punished for operating a legitimate business.”
Harborside, which celebrated its fifth anniversary Monday, serves 94,000 patients with 84 full-time employees and brings in about $22 million in annual revenue. According to DeAngelo, the center, set up as a not-for-profit business, pays about $1.1 million in taxes to the city of Oakland, $2 million to the state of California and $500,000 to the federal government.
“We have no complaint about the taxes we pay,” DeAngelo said. “We are doing our part. All we ask is that we be treated like any other business enterprise. To treat us like criminals is simply wrong. Drug kingpins and cartels don’t file taxes. We do. But no business, including ours, can survive if it is taxed on its gross revenue. The IRS is trying to tax us out of existence.”
Keith Stroup, legal counsel and founder of NORML, the nation’s largest marijuana advocacy group, says the IRS ruling is likely to stifle the quasi-legal industry and force people back onto the black market.
“You know, Al Capone was taken down by the IRS, not by the FBI or the police. And I can assure you that Steve DeAngelo is no Al Capone,” Stroup said.
Stroup believes the move also could make it more difficult for the medical marijuana industry to capture significant capital investment. Medical marijuana is now a $1.7 billion market, according to a report released this year by See Change Strategy, an independent financial analysis firm that specializes in new and unique markets. The figure represents estimated sales of marijuana through dispensaries in states with medical marijuana laws.
Although the IRS declined comment, Stoup says NORML has received e-mails from other dispensaries that are currently being audited and will likely receive similar rulings. “Harborside is one of the biggest, so that is why the IRS targeted them first,” Stroup said. “But there are other dispensaries that will suffer the same fate unless Congress acts.”
Some members of Congress have taken up the cause.
Reps. Pete Stark, D-Calif., Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Jared Polis, D-Colo., have introduced legislation to ensure the medical marijuana industry is treated like any other business.
Two Republican presidential candidates — Ron Paul and Gary Johnson — also support the legislation.
Stark’s bill, the Small Business Tax Equity Act, authorizes medical marijuana dispensaries to take the full range of business expense deductions.
“You’d think that a time of record budget deficits that the IRS would be happy that a legal business is doing the right thing and paying its taxes,” Polis said. “Instead, the IRS seems intent on destroying a successful and legal business that creates jobs and strengthens our economy.”
The confused legal situation is “an un-American loop of nonsense,” says Jerome Handley, a tax attorney in Oakland who has more than 100 clients in the medical marijuana industry. “My advice to my clients is simple: Document everything … and stay out of the spotlight.”
William Panzer, an Oakland tax attorney who helped author California’s medical marijuana law, Proposition 215, also successfully fought the IRS in a similar case in 2007.
In that case, U.S. Tax Court Judge David Laro declared that Californians Helping to Alleviate Medical Problems (CHAMP), a medical marijuana provider, could deduct the majority of employee costs as caregiving expenses. The IRS sought $426,000 in back taxes and penalties, but CHAMP ended up paying a tax assessment of less than $5,000.
“This law is not about protecting citizens from criminals. It is a concerted effort by the federal government to crack down on a legitimate business,” Panzer said.
DeAngelo points out the apparent craziness of the law. “The IRS allows me to deduct my cost of purchasing cannabis, which is the controlled substance they say is illegal. But I can’t deduct my payroll or my rent? That, clearly, defies logic and common sense.
“Besides,” DeAngelo added, “have you ever heard of a drug trafficker that actually files a tax return? Me neither.”
When people hear the term “medical marijuana” these days, READ MORE…
http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011110040307
I just completed a 30 day trial of daily dosages of over 1.2g of Cannabis oil a day and I am now convinced that THC metabolites do mitigate the effects of THC. Colorado just started a “Drugged Driving Is Impaired Driving” campaign that is completely propagandist. To infer that someone had an accident because they have Cannabis in their system does not mean it caused the accident, for sale that is absurd to think that way. Look at the science and stop profiling us.
no rx but to tell me I am impaired because I am using Cannabis is an insult. Give me a driving test and you will see. I have police follow me everywhere, as I have Cannabis all over my Jeep, and I have not been pulled over for impaired driving. These ads are an insult to us as Cannabis patients.
This campaign may target all drugs, but 90% of this demographic are Cannabis consumers. I support going after people driving on Ambian and other pharmaceuticals. I have lost a friend in Louisville, Colorado to a woman taking pharmaceuticals who drove over 50′ off the road striking John. As a patient if I were to see these prejudicial posters in a dispensary, I would share it will all I can, because those that support this campaign have lost my support. This is only going to hurt us as patients. This is just like RACISM*, the difference being that society calls us DISABLED. Why is our own industry fighting each other with this propaganda.
Where did the money come from to pay for all this advertising? Wouldn’t it have been better spent telling the truth?
I am very concerned about MMIG, law enforcement and centers that support this. I believe that it is our responsibility as patients to confront this Drugged Driving campaign as it is demeaning to us as disabled people. This is only furthering Refer Madness.
*Hundreds of thousands of us are in prison, have been killed, tortured and abused by law enforcement, and forced to physically build more private prisons.
UPDATE: I am now recording all my driving behavior as a demonstration to the fact that I am not impaired with the elevated doses of Cannabis.
Here is a great book that you may want to read “Science Under Siege: The Politicians’ War on Nature and Truth” by Todd Wilkinson
