Three Marijuana Reform Bills Proposed in Congress on May 25, 2011 WSJ Team

Three pro-marijuana reform bills were introduced in congress today: The Small Business Tax Equity Act; The States’ Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act; and The Small Business Banking Improvement Act. These three acts have more or less the same purpose; they want to protect the businesses and patients that are involved in the medical marijuana industry from federal prosecution.

The Small Business Tax Equity Act would close a loophole the IRS and DEA are trying to extort by legitimizing medical marijuana business and improving the tax code, which currently does not recognize any medical marijuana business.

The States Medical Marijuana Patient Act would protect patients in states with current medical marijuana laws from federal prosecution by rescheduling marijuana under the controlled substances act.

Finally, the Small Business Banking Improvement Act would allow medical marijuana business to use commercial banks a luxury that they have not been afforded in recent years due to Federal prosecution and threats to the banking system. By amending the Bank Secrecy Act, medical marijuana businesses would be given full access to banking services.

The main supporters and sponsors of these bills are congressmen Jared Polis (D-CO), Barney Frank (R-MA), Ron Paul (R-TX), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), and Pete Stark (D-CA).

Congressman Jared Polis stated, “When a small business, such as a medical marijuana dispensary, can’t access basic banking services they either have to become cash-only—and become targets of crime—or they’ll end up out-of-business. In states that have legalized medical marijuana, and for businesses that have been state-approved, it is simply wrong for the federal government to intrude and threaten banks that are involved in legal transactions.”

Congressman Paul added, “It is time to get the federal government out of state criminal matters, so states can determine sensible drug policy for themselves, it is quite obvious the federal war on drugs is a disaster. Respect for states’ rights means that different policies can be tried in different states and we can see which are the most successful. This legislation is a step in the right direction as it removes a major federal road block impeding businesses that states have determined should be allowed within their borders.”

Although, it is very difficult to pass bills like this it will bring medical marijuana to the national debate and will ultimately allow states to make more decisions on how to enforce their current drug laws.

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