New regs don’t clear all hurdles for pot dispensaries
By Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times
California’s new medical marijuana regulations will likely reduce federal crackdowns in the state, but dispensaries will continue to have difficulty obtaining banking services and deducting business expenses, legal experts and activists said Friday.
The Obama administration has backed off major enforcement actions in states that legalize medical and recreational marijuana, but most dispensary owners still remain at risk of a possible 10-year minimum federal sentence should policies in Washington change.
Marijuana advocacy groups said they were unconcerned about a new administration increasing federal enforcement in the future, particularly against medical marijuana.
California’s regulation of medical marijuana also is likely to protect it from federal prosecutions, activists and lawyers agree.
