Federal versus State Marijuana

EUGENE, Ore. - July 25, 2021 - PRLog -- While legal on a state level, all marijuana is still very much illegal on the Federal level. Confusing? Yes, but legal under the tenth amendment of the United States constitution which delegates police powers to the state. In layman's terms this means that while states can't prevent federal prosecutions of citizens who are using marijuana, they can make such use noncriminal under their own laws in turn eliminating state prosecution of those citizens at the state level. Furthermore, in 2013 the Department of Justice, under President Obama's administration announced that it would not interfere with marijuana operations that strictly complied with state regulations. This further separated the divide between state and federal ruling for marijuana. On a federal level the focus is now targeted to: marijuana moving across state lines, distribution to children, money laundering, gang activity, large distribution, etc. In 2018 however, President Trump's administration terminated this policy and stated that federal prosecutors can pursue criminal cases when state and federal marijuana laws collide. While these changes were reported, President Trump's administration continued to follow the prior administration. While legal marijuana is big business, the collision of the state versus federal law has made for some complications. Banks have widely been unwilling to do business with marijuana businesses because this could violate federal anti-money laundering laws. In regards to taxes, the federal tax code still classifies marijuana farmers and dispensary owners as drug traffickers. However, they are still required to pay federal taxes which means that these businesses can't take tax deductions. This normally means that marijuana businesses are required to complete steps that all businesses have to but get less benefits for doing so. The legalization of marijuana on a state level and the different handling per administration has led to laws that are ever changing which is difficult to determine for prior cases. Most notably, Clarence Thomas, a conservative justice on the Supreme Court recently stated that "The hodgepodge of federal policies on marijuana, federal laws against its use or cultivation may no longer make sense". This was stated after the court declined to hear an appeal of a Colorado medical marijuana dispensary that was denied the federal tax breaks that other businesses are allowed. Recent conversations with marijuana business owners and state lawyers center around the idea that laws are changing quickly at a state level and federal legislation needs to be looked at in order to keep up. Green Health Eugene in Eugene, Oregon is a legal dispensary that was one of the first in the Eugene area, that serves both medicinal and recreational customers.

https://www.greenhealtheugene.com/