More Than Two Dozen Cannabis Industry Leaders Head to D.C. to Deliver a Message to Congress: "Tax Us -- Fairly"

WASHINGTON, May 29, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Next week, more than two dozen marijuana business leaders will travel to Washington, DC from across the country to take part in a two-day lobbying visit. Industry leaders will discuss the primary challenges facing business owners which could be solved by reconciling state and federal law, including a lack of access to financial services, unjust application of tax provisions, and ongoing interference from the federal government.

In additional to numerous lobbying meetings, participants will join Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) at a press conference on Wednesday, June 5, as he announces the introduction of the Small Business Tax Equity Act of 2013. This bill would fix a provision of the Internal Revenue Code, Section 280E, which prohibits state-legal businesses from taking standard business deductions when computing their taxes and results in regulated cannabis businesses paying four or more  times the effective tax rate for most other small businesses. Participants will also discuss a recently released Senate Finance Committee "options paper," which includes the taxation of marijuana as a possible means of raising tax revenue at the federal level.

Participants will include Sean Luse of Berkeley Patient's Group, a state-legal medical cannabis collective targeted for asset forfeiture by the Department of Justice despite unprecedented community support. "The Department of Justice is undermining the authority of state and local officials who steadfastly support medical cannabis in our community by diverting limited resources away from the real issues, such as fighting violent crime and getting illegal guns off our streets, in favor of cracking down on licensed medical cannabis providers," Luse says. "Members of Congress need to hear directly from those who are caught in the middle of the conflict between state and federal law."

Ean Seeb, Vice-Chair of the National Cannabis Industry Association board of directors and operator of Denver's first medical marijuana center, frames the conversation by noting, "Cannabis is poised to become the next big industry in the United States and around the world. NCIA is the sole organization that works with business members all over the country lobbying on behalf of those fighting for equalization of taxes and banking, amongst other issues making it difficult to operate like any other industry. Association members are headed to Washington with a unified message to legislators: Treat us as you would any other business."

The National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) is the only national trade association working to advance the interests of cannabis-related businesses in the US. NCIA promotes the growth of a responsible and legitimate cannabis industry and works for a favorable social, economic and legal environment for that industry in the United States.