How Rescheduling Marijuana Could Impact Colorado Springs Dispensaries, Lead to Lower Prices
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is considering rescheduling marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III controlled substance, aligning it with drugs like ketamine and Tylenol with codeine. Currently classified with drugs perceived as having no medical use and a high potential for abuse, this change could significantly impact marijuana dispensaries.
This rescheduling could reduce the burden of a tax code that currently prohibits businesses dealing with Schedule I and II substances from deducting typical business expenses for dispensaries like Pure Medical in Colorado Springs. Karlie Van Arnam, the general manager at Pure Medical, notes that her dispensary currently faces a tax rate of about 70%, much higher than the 20-30% typical for other businesses. The proposed change would allow dispensaries to be taxed similarly to other businesses, potentially increasing profitability, creating better and more jobs, and enabling cost savings to be passed to consumers.
Baker Law Group Attorney Jennifer Schwab, a Colorado cannabis attorney, said the possible rescheduling could be an incentive for more cannabis businesses to join the industry. However, she said not in Colorado Springs. The city has met its cap for the number of medicinal marijuana licenses allowed.
Schwab said the move to re-classify marijuana as lower-risk could allow dispensaries to have more banking options.
“The rescheduling is probably going to make it a little bit easier to bank with certain institutions that up until this point have been hesitant or have just flat-out prohibited any kind of business with cannabis businesses,” she said.
Moving marijuana to a Schedule lll drug might also allow more dispensaries to take credit cards from customers instead of just cash, according to Schwab. She said the move to reschedule the drug is also a symbolic gesture.
“It takes away some of that stigma and makes it a little bit more publicly acceptable,” she said.
A final decision has not been made to reschedule marijuana. The formal process to do so includes a period of public comment. The drug will still be illegal federally even if it’s rescheduled.
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