Transcript The State of Marijuana in Colorado

Regulating & Taxing
Marijuana
www.MarijuanaPolicy.org
Serving Stoners?
106 Million Americans Have Used Marijuana
Pew Research Center
53% of Americans
16+ States Will Likely Have Regulated
Marijuana By Late 2017
Regulating Marijuana
 Legal Age
 Driving Under the Influence
 Home Cultivation
 Local Control
 Allow local bans?
 Existing Medical Marijuana Businesses
 First dibs on adult use licenses?
 Dual licensing?
Regulating Marijuana
 Who Gets Licenses?
 Vertical Integration
 Types of Businesses:
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Retail stores
Wholesale growers
Product manufacturers
Testing facilities
Possibly separate distributors
Tax Structures
 Ad Valorum (percentage-based) tax: Colorado,
Washington
 Weight-Based Tax, wholesale level: Alaska, New
Hampshire, Maryland, Rhode Island
Regulatory Agencies
 Liquor Commission/Alcohol Control Board (Alaska,
New Hampshire — retailers only, Vermont, Washington
State)
 Revenue Department (Colorado, also regulates liquor
and tobacco)
 Business Regulation (Rhode Island, also regulates
liquor)
 Comptroller (Maryland)
 Agriculture (New Hampshire — cultivators only)
U.S. Department of Justice
Guidance
 August 2013 memo by Deputy A.G. James Cole
 DOJ focusing enforcement activity on eight priority
areas, leaves other areas to states
 Rests on expectation states will enact strong regulatory
systems; the federal government may challenge
regulatory systems that are not robust
 Applies to civil and criminal investigations
 Does not provide a legal defense
Eight Federal Priority Areas
 Preventing …
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Distribution to minors
Revenue from going to criminal enterprises
Diversion to states that prohibit marijuana
State-legal marijuana from being a cover for illicit
activities
Violence or firearms in marijuana cultivation
Drugged driving and adverse public health
Cultivation on public lands
Marijuana possession on federal lands
Federal Memos on Banking
 Criminal Prosecution: “…if a financial institution or
individual offers services to a marijuana-related
business whose activities do not implicate any of the
eight priority factors, prosecution for these offenses
may not be appropriate.”
 Regulatory Compliance: Created three new classes
of marijuana-specific Suspicious Activity Reports
 “Marijuana limited,” filed every 120 days
 ”Marijuana priority,” for red flags
 "Marijuana termination,” when the account is terminated
for serious red flags
Congressional legislation in 2014
(which won’t be enacted until later)
 Bill removing federal penalties from those complying
with state marijuana laws (H.R. 1523)
 Bill to treat marijuana like alcohol, with licensing (H.R.
499)
 Bill to fix banking problems (H.R. 2652)
 Bill to fix 280E tax problem (H.R. 2240)
Reasons to Regulate
Marijuana
 Marijuana prohibition does not work
 Prohibition fuels criminal organizations and violence
 Fiscal: $30 billion dollar industry, governments are
missing out on billions in tax revenue
 New legal industry, legitimate jobs
 Diverting law enforcement from serious crimes
 Hypocrisy
Marijuana is Safer
The U.S. Center for Disease Control reports:
 Deaths caused by use of alcohol annually: 37,000
 No category for marijuana deaths
Alcohol is associated with:
 Violence and aggressive behavior
 Domestic abuse and sexual assault
Marijuana is NOT
For more information,
please visit:
www.MarijuanaPolicy.org