Federal reschedule of medical marijuana could bring down drug prices in Missouri
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Department of Justice reclassified medical marijuana from being grouped with strong, potent drugs like heroin or LSD--to a lower classification to allow for research. The reclassification could also lower medical marijuana prices for some consumers.
Dan Veits, a lawyer for the Missouri branch of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said that rescheduling medical marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug would allow dispensaries to deduct business expenses from their taxable income.
"Previously, those who engaged in illegal sales of cannabis, medical or non-medical, could not deduct their business expenses," Veits said. "So, they had to pay taxes on their gross income, and that is just almost impossible to live with."
That would make marijuana more profitable and potentially lead to lower prices because dispensaries no longer have to carry that burden.
President of the Shangri-La Dispensaries, Kepal Patel, agreed that prices could come down over time.
"The medical marijuana prices will go down because it opens up to release some of the tax burden on the retailer," Patel said.
It only applies to medical marijuana, though.
"It'll mean nothing to those who use non-medical marijuana," Veits said. "It'll still be against the law to deduct business expenses, even for those who are legally selling non-medical marijuana. So, it won't have any impact whatsoever, at least not directly or immediately, on anyone other than medical marijuana patients."
The reclassification of medical marijuana also opens doors for research. Patel said research on how marijuana affects people is limited because federally-funded institutions couldn't study the drug.
"So, no new research in terms of what the effect of that and what effect marijuana has on their body, how it affects our system internally and what kind of true benefit it provides for medical patients all have been spoken about in that sense, but they have not been truly studied in a scientific viewpoint," Patel said.
In a DOJ press release, the department said it's also looking to reclassify recreational marijuana, and it will begin discussions in June.
