Boxes labeled “weed” were thrown into the Boston Harbor Wednesday as part of a protest against cannabis industry tax laws.
“Hear ye, hear ye,” Tim Shaw, chief operating officer of MariMed yelled. “... Today, we have stormed this schooner to protest an unfair tax.”
MariMed channeled the Boston Tea Party’s “rebellious spirit” to protest the tax laws Wednesday dressed in traditional colonial garb. The protest was regarding section 280E of the Internal Revenue Service Code, which the group claims “burdens cannabis companies with paying significantly higher taxes than most U.S. businesses, often resulting in higher product prices for consumers.”
“Section 280E prohibits companies from deducting ordinary business expenses associated with the ‘trafficking’ of Schedule 1 and 2 substances,” said Jon Levine, CEO of MariMed. “Cannabis is still unjustly classified as a Schedule 1 drug. That creates a barrier to the growth of the legal cannabis industry in this country.”
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