Because marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, legal retailers in the states also can’t deduct the cost of normal business operations like employee salaries or rent, under a 1980s-era law targeting drug traffickers. That means above-board marijuana businesses can pay effective tax rates of 70 percent or higher, according to the National Cannabis Industry Association.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/marijuana-ballot-measures-activists-watershed-230760