Recently, a pharmaceutical research and manufacturing center in New York was repurposed for the
intent of growing and refining medical marijuana.
In fact, with the spread of legalized or decriminalized weed, corporations have been scrambling to
cash in and gain market share on this legally murky drug.
But why isn’t corporate weed more common?
In countries like Canada, medical marijuana is a big business.
But originally, there were few limits on who could grow marijuana to resell.
Between government grow-ops, private farms, and small businesses all doing the same thing,
police and local governments ended up regularly complaining about the unregulated system.
Today, medical marijuana users in Canada are limited to one of several large, government
approved, corporate growers.
They are expected to bring in over 3 billion Canadian dollars over the next ten years.
But in the United States, the federal government is less accepting of large or small scale
growers.
Since marijuana is still technically illegal on a federal level, the risk involved is significantly
higher, and the whole process is more complicated.
Growers are prohibited from using federal water in their operations, and many banks
have been reticent to loan or accept marijuana money.
And although the Department of Justice has promised to cool off on prosecutions, they
still openly threaten the marijuana business.
In a memo to US attorney, the DOJ reaffirmed that marijuana was a quote “dangerous drug”
and that they would continue enforcing anti-drug laws.
Their regulatory attempts at stopping interstate trafficking, use by minors, intoxicated driving,
and perhaps most ironically, criminal revenue from pot sales, threaten the US marijuana
industry.
On top of everything else, the foggy legality of marijuana creates significant tax revenue
problems.
Pot falls under section 280E of the tax code, which prohibits tax credits or deductions
on any federally illegal drugs.
In response, the IRS points the blame at Congress, which has thus far refused to decriminalize.
There are a number of hurdles to clear before an effective system of sales and revenue can
be established.
Looking at Colorado, it’s clear that the federal government is missing out on at least
some significant taxable income.
In just the year since it was legalized in that state, pot brought in $36.5 million dollars
in taxes alone.
That’s not to mention the ancillary jobs created and money made from increased tourism.
Still, marijuana legislation has changed more in the past few years than it has in the past
few decades.
It’s only a matter of time until public opinion changes public policy and paves the
way for corporate marijuana.
The business of Marijuana has already been booming in some pretty interesting ways.
Check out how some are hosting high class marijuana dinner parties, in our latest episode
of Seeker Stories.
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