Big Pharma’s Campaign to Eliminate State-Sanctioned Cannabis Competitors?

[slimvictor]

Can a New Loophole Help Medical Marijuana Sellers Avoid High Taxes?

As Colorado, California and Washington including 16 other states enjoy freedom under state law to operate legal medical marijuana-cannabis businesses the owners are often faced with arrests and constant harrasment by Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Though some states have legalized the sale of marijuana for medical purposes, the practice remains a felony crime under federal law.

Even if marijuana operators avoid arrests the almighty Feds inflict more damage by imposing astronomical “high taxes” on a state-sanctioned marijuana-cannabis, taxes as high as 75-80 percent. Some dealers, unable to pay employees and overhead, combined with the burden of extra high taxes, must shut down, thus preventing sick patients, preferring cannabis treatment, from getting the care they desperately need.

Cannabis dealers argue that “high taxes” imposed upon their businesses is the Feds political goal: to run them out of business and the bigger picture is to eliminate competition against the giant pharmaceutial industry which makes billions selling drugs to treat illnesses at a higher cost.

But evidence has proved that a person can purchase cannabis from a state legalized operator and receive effective treatment at a much lower cost.

cont at
http://www.cannabisculture.com/cont...iminate-State-Sanctioned-Cannabis-Competitors

 

[Portillo]

How long until a pharmaceutical corporation starts producing its own branded medical marijuana?

 

[23536]

The full article is here:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/medica...state-sanctioned-cannabis-competitors/5335738

I think it's a misleading headline, because the author doesn't proffer proof that pharmaceutical companies are lobbying to criminalize cannabis.

Why publish an article if you lack clear evidence? Yes, they spend a lot of money on lobbying, but they have many objectives and cannabis criminalization may or may not be one of them. Either way, as a reader, one shouldn't be satisfied with reasoning such as "it doesn't take a Harvard genius to realize this" (the article really says this).

How much does GW (maker of Sativex) spend on lobbying, and whom do they lobby? Do the politicians that are pushing for liberalization receive money from the pharmaceutical industry.

The police, prison and rehab lobbies clearly articulate their anti-cannabis activity. I assume that if there really were a significant effort by pharma to squash cannabis reform, it would be obvious.

Other than that, the full article has some interesting tax analysis.

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

I mean, cannabis sells itself, whether medically or recreationally.

 

[Fyasko.]

How long until a pharmaceutical corporation starts producing its own branded medical marijuana?

To my knowledge anything found in nature can't be patented so there's really no point to it for the pharm companies

 

[panic_the_digital]

As 23536 noted, GW Pharmaceuticals isn't raking in billions off of Sativex (a proprietary cannabis extract spray). Their lobbying power is nothing special. We need to get out of the conspiracy theory mindset and realize that cannabis, although useful as medicine in some instances, is not the panacea it is often touted as. Big pharma stands to lose very little if it is legalized. Imbev, on the other hand...