IRS
Title: The IRS bans groups lobbying to legalize cannabis
Author: Herb.co
Date: 30 March 2018
URL: https://herb.co/marijuana/news/irs-cannabis-ban
Could IRS policy change strip marijuana trade associations of tax exemption?
Extract:
The Internal Revenue Service has been quietly blocking the creation of non-profit cannabis industry associations, specifically 501(c)6 organizations, since the beginning of 2018. 501(c)6’s are often charitable political advocacy groups that incorporate lobbying to help shape policy. They play a key role in advancing legislation around particular issues.
In January, the IRS released a new set of rules which states, in part, that it will not be granting non-profit status to organizations whose purpose is to assist any business related to “an activity involving controlled substances (within the meaning of Schedule I and II of the Controlled Substances Act), which are prohibited by Federal law—regardless of its legality under the law of the state in which such activity is conducted.” This means all businesses related to cannabis, as cannabis is federally listed as a Schedule I substance on the Controlled Substances Act.
WALL STREET
Title: Wall Street experiments with marijuana investments
Author: FT
Date: 1 April 2018
URL: https://www.ft.com/content/8a3c1ed4-27d0-11e8-b27e-cc62a39d57a0
Extract:
Sensing an opportunity, former Bear Stearns broker Gregg Schreiber helped found Green Table, a legal marijuana industry networking business. Its Manhattan event gave companies a soapbox to make pitches to potential investors. Another Green Table dinner is scheduled in Boston in April. It’s an incredibly exciting time to be alive if you’re a marijuana smoker Keith Stroup, founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws Standing before the well-dressed guests were executives from companies such as Firefly, which sells an app-controlled vaporiser, and PRØHBTD Media, a cannabis marketing company. They envisaged a country where consuming pot was no more controversial than ordering a Chardonnay. “Stoner culture, all props and respect to that subculture, is fading away,” Steve Berg, Firefly’s chief executive, told the audience. “Cannabis is going mainstream. And the question everybody in this room should be asking is, ‘How do I make money?’” Mr Berg said he moved into the cannabis industry nine years ago after a career in banking. His $329 vaporiser lacks the baroque styling of head shop paraphernalia, instead sporting the clean lines of a smartphone. Drake Sutton-Shearer, chief executive of PRØHBTD Media, said his partnership with an advertising events group would “introduce cannabis to Madison Avenue. That means going to Procter & Gamble, Mondelez, Kraft Foods. These guys want to buy brands at scale.”
STATES
Title: Marijuana-Friendly States Want to Meet with Jeff Sessions to Resolve Cannabis’ Legal Limbo
Author: Time
Date: 30 March 2018
URL: http://time.com/5221742/marijuana-friendly-states-meet-jeff-sessions/
Extract:
California, Oregon and other marijuana-friendly states are seeking a meeting with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in hopes of resolving the conflict between federal and state laws that has left the nation’s cannabis industry in legal limbo.
BERKELEY
LOUISIANA
Title: With medical marijuana legal, Louisiana doctors debating what qualifies Newburgh Gazette
Author: Newburgh Gazette
Date: 1 April 2018
URL: http://newburghgazette.com/2018/04/01/with-medical-marijuana-legal-louisiana-doctors-debating/
OREGON
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Marijuana Minor Decoy Operations |
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The results of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission’s recent minor decoy operations for marijuana sales are now available. The OLCC performs marijuana sales checks in an effort to reduce access to marijuana by minors. During the sales checks, a minor volunteer attempts to purchase marijuana from a licensed business to see if staff are checking ID’s correctly and refusing to sell marijuana to anyone under 21. Commission inspectors supervise the minor volunteers. The volunteers carry their own legal ID that identifies them as under 21 and do not disguise their age or lie to encourage the sale of marijuana. The Oregon Driver license for a minor carries a red border around the around the picture with the words “Minor Until” followed by the date of his/her 21. |
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