cannabisnews.com: Apply State Sales Tax To Medical Marijuana
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Apply State Sales Tax To Medical Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on November 22, 2009 at 08:10:08 PT
Editorial
Source: Pueblo Chieftain 
Colorado -- In 2000, Colorado voters passed Amendment 20 to allow patients to use medical marijuana with a doctor's certification. Communities across the state are grappling with the issue now. In Pueblo, City Council has placed a three-month and the county commissioners a four-month moratorium on whether to permit and regulate medical marijuana dispensaries. (Colorado Attorney General John Suthers last week gave Gov. Bill Ritter his formal opinion on applying the state sales tax to the purchase and sale of medical marijuana. Here are excerpts:)
Colorado law is clear: Medical marijuana, in most instances, should be subject to state and local sales taxes. This formal opinion should help clear up many of the uncertainties surrounding the taxation of medical marijuana. Many other questions surrounding medical marijuana and Amendment 20 to the Colorado Constitution will have to be resolved by the courts or the Colorado Legislature.The formal opinion, available at: http://www.coloradoattorneygeneral.gov/ag_opinions/2009  addresses:Medical marijuana is “tangible personal property” and is subject to the state sales tax, unless eligible for a specific sales tax exemption.Medical marijuana is not dispensed in accordance with a prescription (and, therefore, is not exempt from sales tax).Medical marijuana transactions generally do not qualify for the agricultural tax exemptions (except for the sale of seeds). Unless subject to a particular exemption, it is unlawful for any individual or enterprise to engage in the business of selling at retail without first having obtained a retail sales license issued by the Colorado Department of Revenue.The obligation to collect and remit sales tax due is borne by the vendor (seller).Amendment 20 (adopted by Colorado voters in 2000), left many legal questions unanswered.The Blue Book (legislative voters' guide) stated that under the proposed amendment, possession of marijuana would still be illegal in Colorado. Consequently, Amendment 20 provides certain protections from state criminal liability for qualifying patients and primary caregivers, but "nothing in the amendment protects their original suppliers from prosecution or conviction on drug-related charges."Further complicating the application of Amendment 20, federal law prohibits the manufacture, distribution, dispensing or possession with intent to manufacture, distribute or dispense marijuana. . . .Despite the legal confusion surrounding the medical marijuana industry, the taxation question is relatively straightforward. . . . Colorado law contains no sales tax exemption for legally prohibited or otherwise unauthorized sales. Sales of medical marijuana are subject to state sales tax, unless a specific sales tax exemption applies.Note: John Suthers is Colorado attorney general.Source: Pueblo Chieftain (CO)Published: November 22, 2009 Copyright: 2009 The Star-Journal Publishing Corp.Contact: newsroom chieftain.comWebsite: http://www.chieftain.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/Q5FTKljeCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #3 posted by runruff on November 23, 2009 at 01:33:01 PT
Laws cut from whole cloth?
"But that legal recognition has not yet reached the point where a conclusion can be drawn that the right to use medical marijuana is 'fundamental' and 'implicit in the concept of ordered liberty."Have you ever read such blatant mambo jambo?I say the feds and the federal courts are yet to make a case for prohibition! They keep us on the defensive while in fact they don't have a sound reason to stand on except "might makes right" or, "because we say so"!Man O man, I'm so pissed, I'm about to blast an ass gasket!
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Comment #2 posted by runruff on November 23, 2009 at 01:11:04 PT
DEA's avalanche of bovine spillage is drying up!
Reading this article must make these little demigod's but pucker!I want to go ontop of my house and light off fireworks!I will live to see their demise.I take every oportunity to expose these fascist military police on every blog site where post! Think Blackwater, think DEA, cut from the same cloth!
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on November 22, 2009 at 19:16:25 PT
News Article From The AMA
AMA Meeting: Delegates Support Review of Marijuana's Schedule I Status***By Kevin B. O'Reilly, Amednews Staff November 23, 2009Houston -- It is time to re-examine whether marijuana should be legally categorized as a schedule I drug, the AMA House of Delegates said at its Interim Meeting.The goal of such a review is to facilitate "the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines and alternate delivery methods," says the newly adopted house policy.The current scheduling "limits the access to cannabinols for even research -- it is very difficult," said AMA Board of Trustees member Edward L. Langston, MD, a Lafayette, Ind., family physician. "We believe there should be a scientific review of cannabinols in the treatment of pain and other issues. ... We support research on the use of cannabinols for medical use."Scientists researching marijuana's medical properties must get the Drug Enforcement Administration's approval every step of the way, and the sole legal national source of cannabis for scientific purposes is the National Institute on Drug Abuse. A number of bureaucratic hurdles apply to cannabis research that do not impede other drug investigations, said a report from the AMA Council on Science and Public Health.URL: http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/11/23/prse1123.htmThe print version of this content appeared in the Nov 30, 2009 issue of American Medical News.
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