Doing taxes? Think twice about writing off medical marijuana

If you’re a medical marijuana patient hoping to save a few dollars on your tax return by writing off those expenses, be careful.

Marijuana is still illegal under federal law, so you definitely can’t claim it as an expense on your federal tax returns, according to ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Tax returns in states where medical pot is legal are more of a guessing game at this point, according to Bob Meighan, vice president of TurboTax.

“As the name suggests, and I assume people are using it for medicinal reasons, it may qualify as a deduction under the medical expense area,” he told GMA.

Winning!

Ohio activists expect half a billion dollars in tax revenue

A group working to legalize marijuana in Ohio says the business would bring in $554 million in taxes by 2020, The Toledo Blade reports.

ResponsibleOhio assumed that the state would be selling 244.16 metric tons of cannabis products per year (that’s 122 million half-gram joints, by our accounting). The money would buoy city and county governments, the activists said.

“Ohioans already spend as much as a couple billion dollars each year on illegal marijuana, while our communities are simply not seeing the benefits,” ResponsibleOhio spokesman Lydia Bolander said.

Marijuana grow operations could strain Vegas power supply

You need a lot of power and water to grow marijuana, and it’s not always easy to get those things in the desert, according to an article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The state is preparing for its new medical marijuana industry and power is a prime concern. One energy company executive said a single marijuana grow operation could suck up the equivalent of power for 1,000 homes, using 5 percent of the total capacity of a substation.

The executive, Arnold Lopez of NV Energy, spoke at a forum on Tuesday in Vegas, warning about the need for substation upgrades to handle the increased workload. He said the legal weed business — even just for medical purposes — could use more power per square foot than any other enterprise in Southern Nevada.

Power is everything in Sin City (Credit: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Growers are reportedly interested in solar power, but consultant John Perry, interviewed by the Review-Journal, is skeptical.

“Even if your entire roof was covered with solar panels, it still wouldn’t be sufficient,” he said.

Pro wrestler Kevin Nash endorses medical marijuana

The best way to recover after a long day of Jackknife Powerbombs? According to pro wrestling legend Kevin Nash, it’s weed.

“To me, medical marijuana is the way to go,” he told TMZ. Nash called marijuana “a safe alternative to the pill mills.”

The one-time member of wrestling fraternities such as the Kliq and New World Order (nWo) pointed out that medical cannabis nearly passed last year in his home state of Florida.

“At this point, even the Republicans realize that it’s something that works.”

Ted Hesson was formerly the immigration editor at Fusion, covering the issue from Washington, D.C. He also writes about drug laws and (occasionally) baseball. On the side: guitars, urban biking, and fiction.