A pretty major shakeup could be on the horizon for Colorado’s cannabis-related businesses – and their profitability.

President Trump in December issued an executive order calling for the reclassification of marijuana, which is currently a Schedule I substance, to the less severe category of Schedule III. Cannabis is currently illegal according to federal regulators, even if states like Colorado say it’s legal to sell and use it.

The current Schedule I status also creates major limitations for dispensaries and other cannabis-related businesses. Taxes and fees from those companies are a major chunk of Colorado’s economy – generating about a quarter of a billion dollars in revenue last year. So a shift in federal law could have big economic impacts on those taxes and fees in states like Colorado.

University of Colorado law professor Sloan Speck examined the potential impacts in a recent essay in The Conversation. Sloan studies how tax laws change the way businesses operate.

He joined Erin O’Toole to talk about some of the unusual ways that tax law and cannabis interact, and to dig into some big questions about what could be next.

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Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Executive Producer: Brad Turner

Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.