The residents of Oregon, Alaska, and Washington D.C will be voting on whether the recreational use of marijuana should be legalized or not.

According to USA Today, these states must have the support of the U.S. Congress, any approved shops for selling marijuana will have a tax code that will result in the federal government making more from the profits of marijuana that the distributors. This tax code is already a threat to states like Colorado and Washington where the recreational use of marijuana is legalized.

Even though the federal government is making a lot of money off of the profits of marijuana, it is still unclear if it is the motive of the federal government to be undermining local businesses. The tax code is called 280E. It was first created in 1982 and says that if a business is selling drugs like marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine, or heroin, the only expenses that are deductible are the costs that are related to the attainment or growth of the drug. Any costs related to the selling of the drug which includes money for advertising, rent, and salaries for employees are not deductible.

The law may allow for the sale and use of recreational marijuana but those are just state laws, they don’t change the federal laws. Distributors of marijuana are hoping for an increase in sales this year so they can make up for the loss in money in taxes from the previous year.