More than 50 years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that even those who make their money illegally have to pay taxes. Under today's tax code the government stands to make more money from the sale of marijuana than those selling it legally. Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY


Voters in Oregon, Alaska, and Washington, D.C., will decide Tuesday whether to legalize the sale of recreational marijuana. But any new pot shops that voters approve may not be able to survive a drug war-era tax code that already threatens many businesses in Colorado and Washington state.

Under this tax code the federal government stands to make more money from the sale of marijuana than those legally selling it. And that could be enough to shut down many shops.

"It's almost like they want us to fail," said Mitch Woolhiser, while walking through his store called Northern Lights Cannabis Co. in Edgewater, Colo. "Everything I do is aimed at keeping us in business because if I don't, then (the feds) win. And I'm not going to let them win."

Woolhiser believes the federal government is actively seeking to undermine his business.

USA TODAY
Medical marijuana stores blocked from tax breaks
Woolhiser first opened shop in 2010, selling medical marijuana. He started selling recreational pot when it became legal in Colorado at the start of this year. Last year, his business didn't earn a profit. Had he been selling anything but cannabis, he would not have owed federal income tax, as he ended up with a loss.
Instead, he ended up paying close to $20,000 to the IRS because of a 1980's tax code called 280E.
And so on.

Those shilling the pot initiative such as out local daily democrat newsletter, stupidly hyped it based in part on the idiotic and obviously false claim of a half billion dollars in revenue just to the state.

I repeated called that lie out AS a lie for months during the election run up.

But, just like the fact that I called Tim "The Liar" Leave-it out on his lies about tolls before HIS election, too few listened.

Well, we know now that it was a campaign of lies by liars.  And now, as I expected, the fed is going to step in and finish them off.

For liars like the scumbag sheriff of King County who has lied his ass off about how wonderful legalizing this crap has been for our state as a part of the scumbags shilling the Oregon pot initiative, as I pointed out during the campaign, nothing approaching $500 million a year will EVER go to the state in revenue.

And now this requirement by the fed...

The idea that ANYTHING was legalized is absurd; the idea that it's generated enough money to make any difference about ANYTHING in this state is absurd,  and now the idea that retail operations can remain open for business with this self-imposed tax burden is equally absurd.

NOW the "enforcement" will shift from possession and use to illegal sales; that is, the state and the fed will begin to enforce the taxing requirements so they can get their cut... and black market prices that are, as I understand it, one third to one half of retail prices will explode and the state/fed will get nothing.

Guess who's going to be locked up THEN?