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Decriminalized Marijuana and the Promise of Legal Profits

By Barbara Rowland

Marijuana's legal uses likely will expand following the recent decriminalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado and Washington, coupled with the growing number of states (currently 20, plus the District of Columbia) that have legalized medical marijuana. The availability of marijuana products on the store aisle next to beer and wine, or in wider use in clinical studies for medical treatment, is only as distant as the time needed to develop and test a comprehensive legal framework for controlling the manufacture, distribution and sales of this substance, still classified as highly addictive and dangerous by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) but yet no more dangerous than alcohol, according to a recent interview with President Obama.'

Pressure is building on federal, state and local governments to reconsider the criminal laws regarding marijuana and to allow interests as diverse as medical research, business entrepreneurs, and tax authorities to benefit from the new legal marijuana industry. Recent guidance memoranda by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Treasury (Treasury) have informally decriminalized some marijuana-related conduct, although many legal marijuana supporters and business interests complain that the guidance does not go far enough.'

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