Legal pot is so lucrative it now has professional Washington lobbyists


The first amazing thing about this article, in The Washington Post, is that there is a National Cannabis Industry Association — let's call it the ganjapreneur lobby. The second is what these pro-legal-marijuana lobbyists were in Washington to accomplish on Thursday. The Post's Holly Yeager spoke with one of the association members trying to persuade Congress:
"We're not the typical face of marijuana," said Dorian Des Lauriers of Franklin, Mass., an entrepreneur and co-founder of a new laboratory that will test medical marijuana. Des Lauriers, wearing a blue suit and a tie with an American flag design, said he had used his meetings with congressional staffers to talk about Section 280E of the tax code, which prohibits companies involved in drug trafficking from deducting normal business expenses that other legal businesses can claim. [Washington Post]
Trying to lower industry taxes? As another smoking-related enterprise used to say:
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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