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This week, the U.S. Tax Court upheld IRS Code 280E when it ruled that Harborside Health Center of Oakland must repay business deductions due to the federally illegal nature of cannabis. Elsewhere, in Utah, a medical marijuana compromise bill was signed into law to replace the state’s voter-approved ballot initiative that passed in the Nov. 6 election.
Here, we’ve rounded up the 10 headlines you need to know before this week is over.
- Federal: In a landmark U.S. Tax Court ruling, the years-long litigation of Harborside Health Center of Oakland came to a close: The business must repay business deductions taken between 2007 and 2012, due to the federally illegal nature of cannabis. The ruling reinforces what the industry has already come to know and understand: IRS Code 280E will remain in effect for cannabis businesses, even those operating in state-legal markets. Read more
- Cronos Group Inc. announced Dec. 7 that it received a C$24-billion equity investment from Altria Group Inc, the manufacturer of Marlboro cigarettes. The investment from Altria provides Cronos with additional capital for global growth. Read more
- Michigan: A group of Democratic lawmakers in Michigan have introduced a bill that seeks to release prisoners convicted of certain types of marijuana crimes, if they meet certain conditions. The bill also seeks to reduce the sentence for other marijuana crimes. Read more
- California: Sequoia Labs, a Sacramento-based independent testing facility, “voluntarily surrendered” its license after learning that its lab director had been falsifying reports and excluding more than a dozen pesticides from its testing protocol and results. Due to a “faulty instrument,” the California testing lab was only testing for 44 of the required 66 pesticides. Read more
- Utah: Utah’s medical marijuana compromise breezed through the state legislature Dec. 3, making key changes to Proposition 2, which was passed by voters less than a month ago. Gov. Gary Herbert signed the nearly-200-page bill into law just after 8 p.m. on Monday. Read more
- The medical marijuana advocacy group Together For Responsible Use and Cannabis Education is now suing Gov. Gary Herbert and Dr. Joseph Miner, the executive director of Utah's Department of Health, over the new law replacing Proposition 2. The lawsuit seeks to declare the legislature's replacement for Prop. 2 unconstitutional. Read more
- Ohio: Ohio’s online portal through which patients may register through their doctors to use medical marijuana went live Dec. 3, and state officials said medicinal cannabis products should be available for patient use within 60 days. Only doctors who have been certified by the State Medical Board to recommend marijuana may access the website on behalf of patients they determined do qualify under Ohio’s fledgling medical marijuana program. Read more
- Minnesota: Minnesota Alzheimer's disease patients will be eligible to use medical marijuana in their treatment starting next August, after State Health Department officials added Alzheimer's as qualifying condition to receive medical cannabis. “Any policy decisions about cannabis are difficult due to the relative lack of published scientific evidence,” Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said in a statement. “However, there is some evidence for potential benefits of medical cannabis to improve the mood, sleep and behavior of patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease.” Read more
- Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania Department of Health has rejected all applications from medical marijuana growers seeking a “clinical registrant” license in the state. This program, tucked into the 2016 voter-approved medical marijuana law and finalized by the department in March 2018, would connect the winning applicants with eight state medical schools for cannabis research, but according to state officials, “none of the eight applicants met the rigorous requirements of the competitive application review process.” Read more
- Missouri: On Dec. 6, Amendment 2, the medical marijuana initiative which Missouri voters overwhelmingly approved on Nov. 6, went into effect as Missouri law. For the first time, Missouri doctors and patients have legal protections under the state’s constitution to discuss medical marijuana as a treatment option. Read more