How Cannabis Beat the RICO ACT and Saved the Industry
It’s been a long battle in the making that could have set a precedent for the cannabis industry that would have caused problems for every legal cannabis business in the United States. But don’t worry folks…this is not an article about the doom and gloom of the cannabis industry but rather a report on the massive victory the industry scored.
Let’s take a step back.
The story starts with Safe Street Alliance and a Horse Ranch in Pueblo County where they tried to use old Racketeering Laws to shut down a cannabis grow house. They claimed that the smell of marijuana was diminishing the value of their property.
Racketeering laws or the RICO laws were established to go after mafiosos in the 60s, where some crime bosses evaded conviction by not associating themselves with criminal activities. Since cannabis is a federally controlled substance, Safe Street Alliance believed that this loophole would provide them with the ammunition to go after any legal cannabis establishment.
If they were to have succeeded in their attempt, this would have set a legal precedent that would allow any non-cannabis party to pursuit legal actions to shut down any legal cannabis establishment irrespective of the state laws.
As you can imagine, this would have created a living hell for all marijuana businesses in the United States.
The Good News
The Federal jury sided with Canna Craft Grow House which is located roughly 30 miles Southwest of Pueblo. Meadows Legacy Horse Ranch, which is roughly ¼ miles away from the grow house sued the business owners because they claimed that the “noxious smells” were too much to handle and ultimately depreciated their property value.
The problem with their claim was that the property value in the region actually increased over time. Thus, they had no concrete proof to validate their claims.
After they plaintiffs lost their court case, they weren’t available for comments according to KDVR.
What does all of this mean?
There is a lot of things we can take away from this case, and it’s the only reason why I decided to report on this.
The first thing we can notice is that the law is starting to shift in favor of legal cannabis. Colorado has been experimenting with the framework for roughly six years. Since then, they have seen great strides in pursuing organized crime, getting marijuana out of the hands of kids and generating revenue for the state.
The fact that the Federal Jury sided with the grow house means that this long war we have been waging is starting to tilt in favor of cannabis.
Secondly, it shows us that prohibitionists such as Safe Street Alliance are grasping at straws. They are trying everything in their power to stop the tidal wave of change that is upon us. The problem is that not only does the data not support their arguments, people are tired of going after nonviolent citizens who actually add value to their surroundings.
What happens now?
As losing the court case would have set a legal precedent in opposition of legal cannabis, the victory has set a precedent in favor of legal cannabis.
Now, businesses who operate within the framework of their legal regime can rest easier knowing that they do have certain protections. One thing is certain, cannabis increases property values if it’s done the right way.
Legal cannabis has created an opportunity for towns and cities to inject new revenue streams and increase the value of their real estate.
Sure, legal cannabis does provide some undesired effects, however, compared to the benefits of legalization, the undesired effects are more than manageable.
I’ve been actively watching the evolution of the cannabis industry over the past two decades and while many people have been saying, “Weed will be legal in the next five years”, I do believe that this time it might be true.
In fact, it could happen as early as 2019 [one can dream].
How does this effect you?
One thing that you should take away from this entire piece is this, “Cannabis is coming!” Depending on your current financial stability, it might be time to start preparing yourself to take a piece of the proverbial pie.
There’s going to be an influx of cannabis jobs in the near future, there will be several good investment opportunities. This is the dot.com revolution happening...but with cannabis. The smart money will try to position itself within the marketplace to take advantage of the rise of a powerful new marketplace.
This court case is just another signal that the future of cannabis is secure and that over the next few years we’ll see a boom within the industry. We already have Canada and Mexico drumming up their cannabis plans over the next year, the United States will not be too far behind.
How Marijuana Beat the RICO ACT and Saved the Industry from CannabisNet on Vimeo.
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