News Nuggets (The Nation)

National alliance formed to fight IRS cannabis rule

Leaders from some of the nation’s largest cannabis advocacy groups have formed an alliance to combat the Internal Revenue Service’s use of an obscure tax code to financially cripple medical marijuana businesses.

The alliance so far includes such prominent members of the cannabis industry as Don Duncan, co-founder of Americans for Safe Access; Steve DeAngelo, executive director of Harborside Health Center; Troy Dayton, former senior development officer of the Marijuana Policy Project and co-founder of Students for Sensible Drug Policy; Amir Daliri, co-founder of the IRS’s use of federal tax rule 280e to deny routine business deductions in tax returns filed by cannabis-oriented companies.

Visit www.280Ereform.org or call (206) 466-1766 for more info.

Canna community calls for 420 Day strike

Non-cannabis types hoping to be entertained by the zany antics of marijuana smokers come April 20 might be in for a bit of a surprise: An Internet-fueled call for a 420 Day strike is rapidly gaining momentum.

In post after post on Facebook and other social media sites, cannabis activists are calling on everyone opposed to marijuana prohibition to forego purchasing anything non-cannabis- or non-hemp-related on 420 Day. The proposed strike reportedly began at the urging of Elvy Musikka, one of only four people to hold a federal prescription for medical marijuana.

Activists hope the proposed 420 Strike will raise public awareness of the more than 800,000 Americans arrested every year on marijuana violations.

Pat Robertson calls for pot legalization

In one of the most unanticipated development in cannabis news in recent memory, ultra-conservative televangelist and former presidential candidate Pat Robertson has called for the legalization of marijuana.

“I just think it’s shocking how many young people wind up in prison and they get turned into hardcore criminals because they had a possession of a very small amount of controlled substance,” Robertson reportedly said in a March airing of the 700 Club. “It’s time we stop locking people up for marijuana.”

A transcript of Robertson’s remarks was obtained by anti-drug-prohibition group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, according to a UPI news report.