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‘Schizophrenic Policy’ Handicaps Cannabis — Here’s What One Pot Attorney Says Feds Need To Change

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Bud businesses are in a bind.

On the local level, economic and political progress has been made in at least 33 states where cannabis is legal in some form or another. On the federal level, the industry is hampered by a Schedule I classification, which lumps marijuana into the same category as ecstasy, heroin, LSD and peyote.

“Cannabis law modernization is still handicapped by what appears to be schizophrenic government policy,” Charles Gormally, co-chair of the cannabis practice group at Brach Eichler LLC, told Benzinga.

“The Schedule I designation made with the declaration of the failed war on drugs was never meant to be permanent, and yet here we are some 50 years later and it remains.”

The result can be devastating for new companies because it cuts them off from basic banking services that other industries enjoy.

They are also deprived of normal tax treatment and standard business tax deductions — all due to federal illegality. 

“This makes their cost of doing business significantly higher,” Gormally said.

State, Federal Disagreement ‘Chills’ Cannabis Investment: The problems plaguing the pot industry, which employs over 243,000 American workers, go beyond banking.

“The federal vs. state bi-polar situation does have important impacts on the industry,” Gormally added.

One example is how business must be conducted only within state borders. This hampers the creation of what in any other industry would be efficient marketplace behavior, he…

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Source: https://mmpconnect.com/schizophrenic-policy-handicaps-cannabis-heres-what-one-pot-attorney-says-feds-need-to-change/

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