Suit Challenging Maryland’s Refusal to Use Racial Preferences in Licensing Has Been Settled

When Maryland’s legislature passed a medical marijuana law in spring 2013, it instructed state regulators to consider race in awarding a limited number of licenses to cultivate and distribute marijuana (see page 454 n.1 of the book). In 2015, however, the state’s licensing commission abandoned those preferences, apparently due to concerns that racial preferences might…

Posted by mikosra on February 28, 2018 in News, Updates, affirmative action, cannabis, croson, cultivate, cultivation, distribute, distribution, licenses, licensing, marihuana, marijuana, maryland, Ohio, race, race preferences, suppliers, supply

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The Corporate Tax Cut Might Have Done More for Marijuana Suppliers than Repealing Section 280E Would Have

As most readers will know, state licensed marijuana businesses pay a comparatively high effective federal tax rate, because a special provision of the federal tax code (section 280E) bars them from deducting all but their cost of goods sold (COGS) when calculating their federal tax liability. In other words, these businesses may not deduct their…

Posted by mikosra on February 16, 2018 in News, Updates, 280E, cannabis, Congress, corporate tax cut, IRS, marihuana, marijuana, marijuana suppliers, tax

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Cases to Watch: Minnesota Prosecuting Two Employees of State-Licensed Medical Marijuana Supplier

Since it legalized medical marijuana back in 2014, Minnesota has licensed two firms to supply the drug to qualifying patients: Leafline and Minnesota Medical Solutions (MMS). MMS is owned by Vireo Health, which also owns a firm licensed by the state of New York to supply medical marijuana to that state’s qualifying patients: Vireo Health…

Posted by mikosra on February 15, 2018 in News, Updates, bultman, cannabis, charges, discipline, license, marijuana, medical marijuana, Minnesota, minnesota medical solutions, New York, out of state, transfer, vireo, wright

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Marijuana and the Opioid Crisis

[Updated 2/19 to add further discussion of Powell et al. study.] The nation’s opioid crisis has sparked a lively debate about the relationship between marijuana and the use of harder drugs like opioid painkillers. Richard Friedman is the latest to weigh in on this debate. In a New York Times op-ed posted February 8, Marijuana…

Posted by mikosra on February 8, 2018 in News, Updates, cannabis, crisis, death, editorial, friedman, gateway, journal of health economics, marihuana, marijuana, new york times, op-ed, opioid, overdose, powell, study

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Cases to Watch: California Growers Association vs. California Department of Food and Agriculture

An association of small California marijuana cultivators has just sued state regulators for failing to restrict the size of licensed marijuana cultivators. The lawsuit stems from concerns over Big Marijuana (discussed in the book on pages 512-515 and in a previous post here). If successful, the suit could reduce concentration in California’s nascent recreational marijuana industry,…

Posted by mikosra on February 3, 2018 in News, Updates, big cannabis, big marijuana, California, California Department of Food and Agriculture, California Growers Association, cannabis, concentration, emergency regulations, lawsuit, marihuana, marijuana, MAUCRSA, Proposition 64

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