New Marijuana Provisions Turn Pot Growers into Legitimate Tax Payers

Job websites could soon advertise for cannabis growing working positions, based on the provisions of the new union contract.

Based on the latest Oregon reports, new Marijuana provisions turn pot growers into legitimate tax payers. Communities and states, which have finally agreed to acknowledge medicinal marijuana will soon benefit of the contribution of pot growers, whose activity is carefully supervised by the OLCC and the Oregon Health Authority.

Marijuana consumption could no longer represent an issue for those U.S. states that have agreed to legalize it. Oregon, the first state that has agreed to legalize recreational marijuana, has gradually turned pot growing activities into regular drug producing businesses.

According to Jeff Anderson, union Secretary-Treasurer, many efforts are being made to unionize employers and employees who grow cannabis. The union is particularly interested in offering good working conditions for those employees who grow and test marijuana. For this purpose, authorities use the drug store model which presupposes a series of obligations on behalf of employers.

Based on this model, marijuana growers must provide higher wages and benefits for their employees. In addition, they must pay taxes to contribute to the community like other business administrators do.

Stoney Brothers, a marijuana producing company in Portland has teamed up with the union to elaborate the first union contract for their workers. Judging by the example that Stoney Brothers has set, Anderson estimates that all cannabis growers in the region will soon have at least one hundred employees.

Thanks to the recent legalization of recreational marijuana, workers in pot growing facilities benefit now of $15/hour wage and a working plan of 15-34 hours per week. Moreover, employers must provide them a medical and a retirement plan, according to the new state provisions.

As expected, the government’s decision to accept the use of marijuana has contributed to the improvement of Oregon’s rural areas. Many families will now benefit of wage jobs in these regions that have been economically depressed since the loss of the timber industry.

The use of cannabis for medicinal purposes was also made easier by the new rules. NOVUS Medplan has been the first American company agreeing to provide wider insurance plans that also cover the use of medicinal marijuana. Frank Fabrozzi, the company’s chairman, has stated that their insurance plans foreseen discounts for marijuana-based products for patients, who have a medical marijuana card.

In spite of the progress that these states are making, there are still many other Oregon states and counties, which have adopted laws to prohibit cannabis growth and production. It remains to be seen which decision was the wisest.

Image source: www.marijuana.heraldtribune.com

Bio
Latest Posts

John Birks

John holds a diploma in journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. He covers the technology, social media, green business, eco-travel, politics, arts culture.