Representatives of the cannabis industry are ramping up their lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill, urging lawmakers to take action on taxes that affect their industry.

The main request in meetings with members of Congress this week: overturning a regulation that prevents legal cannabis companies, in particular, from deducting operating expenses.

Members of the industry have been disappointed that the GOP tax overhaul passed in December did not clear away the regulation. And while many don't expect legislative action this year, given the fall midterm elections, industry advocates are holding out hope for Democratic-sponsored bills that could see movement in 2019.

“Right now, cannabis is emerging at the fastest growing industry in America, and these are brand new jobs," said Keegan Peterson, whose company Wurk helps cannabis businesses comply with various regulations. "The ability of the industry to grow and provide medicines to the people who need them depends [on] good tax laws."

In terms of taxes, the main legislation the cannabis industry is supporting is the Small Business Tax Equity Act. The legislation targets a line in the tax code, put in place in 1982, that prohibits businesses from deducting a broad array of expenses if they are “trafficking in controlled substances.”

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A Senate committee has passed more than two dozen amendments to the federal government’s cannabis legalization bill, including one that would allow provinces and territories to ban home-grown marijuana.

But the social affairs committee has refused to accept an amendment that would have prohibited home cultivation outright.

Bill C-45 would allow individuals to grow up to five plants in a single dwelling.

But Quebec and Manitoba have decided to prohibit home cultivation, setting up future legal challenges in which Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has said the federal legislation would prevail.

The Senate committee, which was conducting a clause-by-clause examination of the bill on Monday, unanimously supported an amendment specifying that provincial and territorial governments have the authority to prohibit homegrown marijuana if they so choose.

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A Florida judge on Friday ruled that the state’s ban on smokable medical marijuana is unconstitutional.

Leon County Circuit Court Judge Karen Gievers wrote in her ruling that residents “have the right to use the form of medical marijuana for treatment of their debilitating medical conditions as recommended by their certified physicians.”

The Florida health department said that it has appealed the ruling, resulting in an automatic stay, according to The Associated Press.

RELATED: Florida Case on Smokable Medical Marijuana Gets Trial Date

Medical marijuana advocates praised Gievers’s ruling as a victory for patients.

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DENVER – The margin between overall sales of adult-use marijuana and medical marijuana grew steadily through 2017 in Colorado, according to new data from the state’s Marijuana Enforcement Division released Friday.

The margin between overall sales of marijuana flower between the adult-use industry (a new term used by the MED this year in lieu of “retail”) and the medical industry went from 24 percent in January to 44 percent in December.

There were also discrepancies between the adult-use and medical industries in the amounts of edibles and concentrates sold in 2017. Medical edible sales were down 14 percent between January and December, while adult-use edible sales jumped 29 percent over that time period.

And the margin between concentrates sold at adult-use shops versus at medical shops was 477 percent over the year.

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