HERB CORNER
My Year As A Budtender... ...continued from page 11
to huge pools of money in order to simply apply for a cannabis busi- ness license. And because banks are prohibited from working with cannabis businesses per federal regulation, small business owners can’t apply for loans to start their operation. This has allowed large, multistate operators backed by hedge
Establishing Relationships of Trust and Confidence Individuals and Small to Medium-Size Businesses in the Washington Metro Area for 30 + years. This brings me to my main point... Cannabis laws and their en- IRUFHPHQWKDYHEHHQPRUHGDPDJLQJWRWKHJHQHUDOSXEOLFVSHFL¿ - cally Black and other non-white communities, than sale and use of WKHGUXJLWVHOIHYHUZDV $QGQRZWKDWLWLVOHJDO RUVHPLOHJDO LQVRPHVWDWHVFDQQDELVLV EHLQJJHQWUL¿HG:KHQ0DU\ODQGOLFHQVHGLWV¿UVWFRPSDQLHVWRJURZ SURFHVVDQGVHOOZHHGLQ0DU\ODQGHYHU\VLQJOHFRPSDQ\ZDVUXQE\ ZKLWHSHRSOH7KH¿UVWSOD\HUVLQWKHLQGXVWU\ZHUHVRHPEDUUDVVLQJO\ PRQRFKURPDWLFWKDWWKH0DU\ODQG*HQHUDO$VVHPEO\KDGWRSDVVD separate bill allocating more licenses for minority-owned businesses in response to what was extremely valid public outrage. However, because the application process for acquiring one of these licenses can cost millions on its own, applicants require access 1RWWRPHQWLRQFDQQDELVDFWXDOO\KDVWKHDELOLW\WR¿JKWFDQFHU, VWUXJJOHGWREHOLHYHWKLVZDVWUXHDW¿UVWDQGQHYHUZRXOGKDYHFRQ - sidered this a possibility if I didn’t meet multiple people who would not have survived cancer if it wasn’t for cannabis. 0\RZQPDQDJHUXVHG5LFN6LPSVRQ2LO 562 ²WKHPRVWSRWHQW purest form of cannabis oil you can buy at the dispensary, most commonly used for cancer treatment — to put herself into remission for stomach cancer. She was in her early 20s in hospice care, dying, despite a full round of chemo and radiation. In a last ditch, nothing WRORVHH̆RUWVKHWULHGWKH562UHJLPHQDQGLWZRUNHG6KHKDVEHHQ cancer-free ever since. Indeed, RSO was originated and named after Rick Simpson who was said to have used homemade cannabis oil to heal skin cancer VSRWVRQKLVDUPLQ$QHFGRWDOHYLGHQFHVXJJHVWV562LVPRVW H̆HFWLYHLQNLOOLQJFDQFHUFHOOVZLWKZKLFKLWFDQFRPHLQGLUHFWFRQ - WDFWVXFKDVVNLQFDQFHU WKURXJKWRSLFDODSSOLFDWLRQ RUVWRPDFK FDQFHU WKURXJKLQJHVWLRQ I will spare you a lengthier explanation about cannabinoids and their anti-cancer and tumor-shrinking properties because I don’t have any human studies to cite for you, not because there are no human cases, but because human-centered cannabis research is prohibited so long as cannabis is illegal at the federal level. Federal FULPLQDOL]DWLRQSUHYHQWVSRWHQWLDOO\JURXQGEUHDNLQJUHVHDUFKIURP KDSSHQLQJWKDWFRXOGEHXWLOL]HGWRWUHDWFRXQWOHVVFRQGLWLRQVLQD medical setting.
funds and special purpose acquisition companies to dominate an industry that should be most accessible to the same communities that were most impacted by the racist prohibition of canna- bis. (YHQQRZDV0DU\ODQG SUHSDUHVWROHJDOL]HFDQQD - bis for all adults, the legisla- WLYHSURFHVVLVEHLQJLQÀX - enced by wealthy players in the medical industry to HQVXUH0DU\ODQG¶VFDQQD - bis market remains small, exclusive, and inaccessible.
,IFDQQDELVOHJDOL]DWLRQLVQRWJHDUHGWRZDUGVSURYLGLQJUHSDUDWLRQV for the harm caused to communities by the racist enforcement of cannabis laws, its legal sales will serve only to make wealthy people HYHQZHDOWKLHUDVLWKDVGRQHLQ0DU\ODQG¶VPHGLFDOLQGXVWU\ $QGXQWLOFDQQDELVLVOHJDOL]HGDWWKHIHGHUDOOHYHODQGVWDWHODZV are adjusted to ensure ample, diverse competition in the industry, WKHSHRSOHXWLOL]LQJFDQQDELVWRLPSURYHWKHLUTXDOLW\RIOLIHZLOOEH WKHRQHVZKRVX̆HU$VZLOOWKHSHRSOHVWLOOEHLQJDUUHVWHGSURVHFXW - ed and incarcerated for cannabis possession and sales nationwide. I recently left my job at a dispensary for a position in journalism, but I will so desperately miss budtending. Carrying around pounds of weed in bags as tall as I am never did get old. All jokes aside, I say that budtending was the most meaningful job I will ever have because of the perspective it gave me on the birth of the cannabis industry, which I naively assumed would be designed in a way that rights the wrongs of its troubled past. %XWDOVRPRUHLPSRUWDQWO\EHFDXVH,KDGWKHSULYLOHJHWRKHOS SHRSOH¿QGUHOLHIWKURXJKFDQQDELVIURPWKHDLOPHQWVRUVWUHVV holding them back from living full, happy lives. I once helped an elderly woman who was recommended cannabis for chronic pain by KHUGRFWRUDQGZDVYLVLWLQJDOHJDOGLVSHQVDU\IRUWKH¿UVWWLPH$VDQ DYLGXVHURIFDQQDELVLQWKHVDVVKHZDONHGLQVKHVDLG³,DPVR JODGWKLVKDSSHQHGEHIRUH,GLHG´ 0\IRUPHUFRZRUNHUVDQG,QRWLFHGDQH[WUHPHO\FRPPRQUH - VSRQVHIURPSDWLHQWVZKHQZHDVNHGWKHP³KRZDUH\RX"´DIWHU walking into the dispensary: 7KH\¶GVD\³DERXWWREHDZKROHORWEHWWHU´ Meghan Thompson is a reporter who covers the Maryland can- QDELVLQGXVWU\DQGLWVLQWHUVHFWLRQZLWKSROLWLFVDQGFULPLQDOMXVWLFH for The Outlaw Report )ROORZLQJKHUJUDGXDWLRQIURPWKH8QLYHU - VLW\RI0DU\ODQGLQVKHZDVDEXGWHQGHUDWD7RZVRQGLVSHQ - sary for a year and moved on to become an editor for a cannabis LQYHVWLQJVHUYLFH This article originally appeared in The Outlaw Report LQ$SULO DQGLVUHSULQWHGKHUHZLWKWKHDXWKRU¶VSHUPLVVLRQ
Comprehensive Tax and Accounting Services Individual – Business – Corporations Financial & Estate Planning
Visit www.EricLBachCPA.com for our newsletter and financial guides that will help you throughout the year.
301-871-6047
Eric L. Bach, CPA Eric L. Bach & Associates
PATHWAYS—Fall 21—95
Made with FlippingBook. PDF to flipbook with ease