New Mexico Court Rules Cannabis a Prescription Drug Like Any Other for Tax Purposes

A three-judge appellate court panel in New Mexico has unanimously ruled that producers of medical marijuana can claim tax deductions for prescription medication. According to a post in the Albuquerque Journal, the ruling comes, despite the fact that New Mexico’s medical marijuana laws don’t define cannabis as a prescription drug.

While a win for cannabis consumers and producers, the state’s Taxation and Revenue Department objects to the ruling, stating that it will severely cut into New Mexico’s budgeted tax revenue. Write-offs could be in the hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars, depending on the volume of each cannabis producer.

But the ruling is being praised by those in the industry who say it could open the door for medical cannabis being covered by private insurance and for inmates and parolees to have the right to use medical cannabis.