The IRS is thought to have begun audits on at least 12 medical marijuana dispensaries in California under the determination that past business deductions are invalid because of a clause in the federal tax code prohibiting any business that traffics in Schedule I or II drugs from making business deductions on their tax returns. The move could bankrupt every dispensary that it targets. The first dispensary to receive a final audit decision from the IRS is the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana (MAMM) in Fairfax, Calif. The IRS is thought to have begun audits on at least 12 medical marijuana dispensaries in California under the determination that past business deductions are invalid because of a clause in the federal tax code prohibiting any business that traffics in Schedule I or II drugs from making business deductions on their tax returns. The move could bankrupt every dispensary that it targets. The first dispensary to receive a final audit decision from the IRS is the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana (MAMM) in Fairfax, Calif.

Lynette Shaw, founder and owner of MAMM, is hoping to strike back before the IRS can deliver any more “final determinations” to other dispensaries currently being audited. Shaw intends to file an appeal in U.S. Tax Court within the month. There is actually a precedent for just such a case, when in 2007, a San Francisco dispensary primarily catering to terminal AIDS patients got its payment cut down to just over 1 percent of what the IRS originally said it owed in back taxes.

Shaw, however, seems to almost hope that a tax judge rules against her. A successful appeal of such a ruling would guarantee that neither MAMM nor any other dispensary in California or any other state would have to worry about future IRS audits. The next step would be the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and Shaw is prepared to take the case to the Supreme Court if necessary.

Shaw says she hopes to do more than just override the tax code. She calls the IRS applying regulations meant for illicit drugs to something considered medication by state governments “an abrogation of states’ rights.” But she also intends to challenge the very classification of marijuana that has allowed the IRS to go after MAMM and other dispensaries.