ITEP report — if medical cannabis gets a tax break: “If the standard for doctors recommending marijuana in a given state is not restrictive, then a huge part of the recreational marijuana tax base could disappear as individuals are incentivized to falsely claim a medical need to get the discount.” Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, 2015, http://www.itep.org/pdf/marijuanaissuesreport.pdf. ITEP is described by the right-wing Carolina Journal as a “left-wing research institution.”
Means testing for the tax break would reduce the problem, but not solve it. Another option is to tax everyone equally and let the spending side of government, like a Public Health agency, take care of needy patients.
The Center for New Revenue 