Dispensaries

IRS Tells Medical Marijuana Dispensary It Owes Millions In Taxes

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 10, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: Jeff Vendsel/Marin Independent Journal

Lynette Shaw, founder and director of the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana, which is being audited by the IRS.

The Internal Revenue Service has notified the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Fairfax, California that it owes millions of dollars in unpaid back taxes, according to the dispensary’s founder and director, Lynette Shaw.

Shaw said the IRS audited the Alliance’s tax returns for 2008 and 2009 — and disallowed all of the dispensary’s business deductions, reports Richard Halstead at the Marin Independent Journal.

Although dispensaries throughout California are reportedly being audited by the IRS, the Alliance is the first to be directly told it can’t deduct business expenses, according to Shaw.

“Every dispensary in the nation, past present and future is dead if this is upheld,” Shaw said.

Medical Marijuana Bill Passes N.H. House Committee In 14-3 Vote

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 9, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Cafe Press

A New Hampshire House committee on Wednesday brought seriously ill Granite Staters closer to relief with a 14-3 “ought to pass” vote on a bill to allow the medical use of marijuana.

The House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee endorsed House Bill 442, which creates a narrow exception in New Hampshire law for people with certain qualifying medical conditions to use marijuana medicinally with a doctor’s recommendation.

HB 442 now moves on to the full House for a vote.

Introduced by Rep. Evalyn Merrick (D), herself a cancer survivor, the bill has five Republican cosponsors, including the chair of the Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee, Rep. John Reagan (R-Deerfield).

140 L.A. Marijuana Dispensaries Ordered To Close Immediately

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 9, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: Los Angeles Times

The office of Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen “Nuch” Tratanich has stepped up its efforts to close unlicensed medical marijuana dispensaries, notifying landlords and operators of 140 pot shops that they must close immediately.

In a letter sent Monday, the office contacted dispensaries which did not file applications to participate in a lottery to choose 100 that will be allowed to operate in the city, reports John Hoeffel at the Los Angeles Times.

The city clerk received 228 applications from dispensaries and is currently reviewing them all to make sure they qualify for the drawing. To qualify, pot shops must have been in business since September 14, 2007.

Los Angeles Voters Approve Taxing Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 9, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Photo: The 420 Times

Los Angeles voters on Tuesday approved a measure to tax medical marijuana dispensaries as a new source of revenue for the budget-challenged city.

Early returns from Tuesday’s polls showed most voters favored Measure M, which would allow the city to collect $50 out of each $1,000 in “gross reimbursements” that dispensaries receive from patients, reports Yang Lina at Xinhua.

With 40 percent of precincts counted, Measure M was ahead by a margin of 62 percent to 38 percent, reports Gene Maddaus at LA Weekly.

DC Businesses Try For A Piece Of The Medical Marijuana Action

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 8, 2011 Dispensaries, Growing, Medical

Graphic: VaporMe.com

Every new industry is driven by risk-taking pioneers, and it’s no different with medical marijuana in the District of Columbia. Entrepreneurs trying for a piece of the cannabis action in D.C. are crafting business plans, arranging financing, and readying for fierce competition to get licenses to operate five dispensaries and 10 cultivation centers.

Whether motivated by prospective profits or a belief in the medicinal value of marijuana, “everyone is cagey about their plans, because no one is certain who is in the hunt,” reports Paul Schwartzman at the The Washington Post.

“People are hiding in the shadows,” said Alan Amsterdam, co-owner of a hemp store and part of a team hoping to open a marijuana dispensary and cultivation center. “Then they’ll strike like a cobra.”

CA Dispensaries Can’t Keep Charlie Sheen Pot Strain On Shelves

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 7, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: TMZ

“Charlie Sheen” weed will run you $70 an eighth, $400 an ounce at many Los Angeles dispensaries.

Medical marijuana dispensaries in California are selling cannabis with the strain name “Charlie Sheen” in a tribute to the headline-grabbing star.

The Charlie Sheen marijuana, reportedly with a THC content of 23 percent, was flying off the shelves at several shops last week, reports TMZ.

Demand for the new strain was so high that growers were being asked to put in more crops to keep up with the demand, the celebrity website reported.

In a move that couldn’t have hurt sales of Charlie Sheen the marijuana strain, Charlie Sheen the actor defended his increasingly erratic behavior by saying last week, “I am on a drug. It’s called Charlie Sheen.”

MI Bill Would Ban Group Smoking In ‘Medical Marijuana Bars’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 3, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Graphic: THC Finder

Medical marijuana patients would no longer be allowed to smoke pot in support groups under a bill approved by a Republican-led Michigan Senate committee on Thursday. The bill would ban medical marijuana bars and clubs that have sprung up in the state since voters, by a wide margin, legalized cannabis for medicinal purposes in 2008.

The legislation now advances to the floor for a vote by the entire Senate, reports The Associated Press.

The legislation defines “clubs and bars” as places where medical marijuana is used in a group setting for a fee. Violations would be punishable by up to 90 days in jail and fines of up to $500.

“There’s really no good reason for people to gather and consume marijuana,” Sen. Rick Jones (R-Grand Ledge) claimed.

L.A. Releases List Of Marijuana Dispensaries Vying For Licenses

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 3, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation

Photo: THC Finder

The Los Angeles City Clerk on Wednesday released a list of 228 medical marijuana dispensaries that have applied to participate in a lottery to select 100 dispensaries to operate in the city.

The clerk’s office said it is still reviewing the information on the eight-page form and supporting documents to ensure all applicants meet the requirements to qualify for the drawing, reports John Hoeffel at The Los Angeles Times. To qualify for the lottery, dispensaries must have paperwork showing they were in business on September 14, 2007, and still have at least one of the original owner/operators.

WA Senate OKs Marijuana Dispensary Bill, But…

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 3, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation

Photo: Smashed Frog

One amendment to SB 5073 would ban print advertising by medical marijuana dispensaries.

Version Passed By Senate Would Ban Print Advertising By Dispensaries; Law Prof Calls That ‘Clearly Unconstitutional’

The Washington Senate approved a bill Wednesday night which, if approved by the House, would legalize and regulate medical marijuana dispensaries in the state.

The bill, intended to bring the medical marijuana supply chain out of a legal gray area, was approved by senators on a 29-20 vote after lengthy debate, reports Manuel Valdes of The Associated Press. The measure now moves to the House.

Senators approved several amendments to the bill which are opposed by the medical marijuana community, including a troublesome ban on print advertising which would strip dispensaries of their First Amendment right to advertise. Distressingly, Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Seattle), author of the bill, introduced that change.

One University of Washington law professor and First Amendment expert called the proposed ban on print advertising by dispensaries “clearly unconstitutional,” reports Curtis Cartier at Seattle Weekly.

Colorado Rep Wants To Ban Pot Edibles ‘To Protect Children’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 1, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: Colorado Medical Marijuana Dispensary Review

Marijuana-infused edibles such as these delicious-looking cookies would be banned in Colorado under a bill being debated Tuesday in the Colorado House.

The Colorado House is scheduled on Tuesday to debate a measure which would ban the medical marijuana edibles industry in the state. Most observers gave the bill a low chance of passage.

House Bill 1250 co-sponsor Rep. Cindy Acree (R) claimed the medibles business is bad for both children and patients, and adds that patients can still make their own cannabis edibles, reports Michael Roberts at Denver Westword. “They can use it however they want: bake with it, drink it, whatever,” she said. “And it doesn’t ban any of the base product, like the oils, the tinctures.”

“The way it’s written now preserves the integrity of the constitutional obligation to make sure patients have access to medicinal products,” Acree said. “But the bill would ban edible food and beverage products.”

And why, exactly, is a ban needed on commercially prepared marijuana edibles?

“Things like ‘pot tarts’ have been showing up on school grounds,” Acree claimed. “And they don’t have regulated doses. I think even patients are misled by some of these things.”

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