Bloomberg Photo Service 'Best of the Week': U.S. Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 1040 Individual Income Tax forms for the 2012 tax year are arranged for a photograph in Tiskilwa, Illinois, U.S., on Thursday, April 11, 2013. The deadline for filing 2012 U.S. taxes is April 15. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

Cannabist Show: He’s an in-the-know tax pro; He’s on quest to fix pot banking

Featured guests: Attorney and tax specialist James Thorburn, and Tokken CEO Lamine Zarrad.

LOTS TO TALK ABOUT

•  A former employee of the U.S. Treasury Department has big ideas for solving the cannabis industry’s banking conundrum.

•  More and more marijuana companies are being audited by the IRS — what’s going on? Get details on cannabis tax laws and issues.

•  A small debate: How aware are the IRS and Federal Reserve of the cannabis industry’s singular concerns?

TOP MARIJUANA NEWS

Gov. Chris Christie signs bill approving marijuana for PTSD treatment: Veterans and others in New Jersey can now legally treat their post-traumatic stress disorder with marijuana. Republican Gov. Chris Christie has signed a measure allowing people to use marijuana if their PTSD isn’t treatable with conventional therapy. In a statement sent with the announcement of the bill signing, Christie noted that federal officials estimate up to 20 percent of veterans returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan have been diagnosed with PTSD. –Report by The Associated Press’ Bruce Shipkowski

Do Coloradans regret legalizing marijuana?: With the November election less than two months out, the nine states voting on recreational and medical marijuana initiatives this year are looking to Colorado residents for guidance and perspective. Each side of the legalization debate has its own narrative and spin on how Coloradans feel about legal cannabis nearly four years after voting overwhelmingly (54.8 percent to 45.1 percent) to legalize it — and nearly three years after implementing those recreational sales. But how do Colorado voters really feel about the still-developing consequences of saying yes to Amendment 64 in November 2012? A new poll suggests Colorado voters do not have buyer’s remorse, The Cannabist has learned exclusively. –Report by The Cannabist’s Ricardo Baca

#MexicanWeedBazooka: Federal authorities in Mexico have discovered a van outfitted with a makeshift bazooka, apparently intended to launch packages over the border with the United States, according to a statement from the Mexican national security commission. In the past, drug smugglers have found creative ways to transport illegal goods — using air space, intricate underground tunnels and oceans to do so. It was unclear whether the air cannon used in this instance was intended to traffic drugs, but authorities said that the van carrying it was parked in Agua Prieta in northeastern Sonora, a state that shares the border with Arizona, with no license plate and doors that were ajar. –Report by The Washington Post’s Lindsey Bever

QUICK HIT

How one of America’s most visible Fortune 1000 giants quietly snuck into the cannabis industry: Scotts Miracle-Gro built a multi-billion dollar business by being a market leader across several categories of the lawn-and-garden industry. The problem? Those categories weren’t growing all that fast. To augment sales, Scotts took a page out of Big Beer’s playbook and crafted a wholly owned subsidiary called the Hawthorne Gardening Co. to create and capture portions of the booming urban gardening and hydroponics market — an industry bolstered by home-growers of cannabis. –Report by The Cannabist’s Alicia Wallace

POT QUIZ

Test your current-events knowledge about Florida medical marijuana opponents, a Colorado town issuing cease-and-desist letters to cannabis clubs, and California cannabis proponents.

Subscribe to The Cannabist Show podcast:

Subscribe with iTunes

Subscribe with Pocket Casts

Subscribe with Stitcher

Subscribe on Google Play Music

Subscribe via RSS