Pubdate: Sat, 23 Aug 2014
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2014 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: John Ingold
Page: 2A

EFFORT TO END POT TAX REJECTED

Activists Claim Levy Violates Rights Against Incrimination

Marijuana activists Friday lost an initial bid to strike down special
taxes on recreational pot because they require businesses and
consumers to implicate themselves in federal crimes.

At the end of a nearly day-long hearing, Denver District Court Judge
John Madden ruled the activists did not show that tax collections
needed to be stopped right away with an injunction.

"I can't find that there's immediate, irreparable injury based on the
testimony today," Madden said.

However, the lawsuit challenging the taxes will continue, and Madden
will decide the overarching questions of constitutionality later.

The activists say the taxes must be stopped because they violate
marijuana business owners' and consumers' Fifth Amendment rights
against self-incrimination. By paying taxes, they acknowledge to the
government that they are violating federal law, the activists argue.

"These taxes are a gift-wrapped open-and-shut federal prosecution,"
Rob Corry, the activists' attorney, said during the hearing.

The hearing quickly ran into the thorny bramble of conflicting federal
and state laws over marijuana-the federal government considering
marijuana strictly illegal; the state government considering it
something that can be sold legally at licensed stores. Madden said he
had concerns about the kind of relief he was being asked to provide.

"How can a party be able to receive a preliminary injunction that
would assist in violating federal law?" Madden asked.

Attorneys defending the tax also argued there is no evidence federal
prosecutors are targeting marijuana store owners or consumers based on
tax payments.

Madden said he's looking forward to the remainder of the case, which
could take months to resolve.

"There are fascinating issues on both sides," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Matt