NORTHAMPTON — In the wake of the Justice Department’s proposal to reclassify cannabis as a less dangerous drug, dispensary owners say the change would help their business, especially on taxes.

“The immediate impact would be for the government to treat us like other businesses for tax purposes,” said Steve Reilly, head of government relations and general counsel for INSA, an Easthampton dispensary.

With cannabis classified as a Schedule I drug along with heroin, LSD and ecstasy — drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse — medical and recreational dispensaries can write off only one business expense on their federal taxes: the cost of the goods sold.

“Every other business can deduct payroll, insurance, marketing, rent,” said Rich Rainone, co-founder of Dazed Cannabis, which has stores in Holyoke, Monson and Manhattan. “We don’t have those write-offs.”

Reclassification to Schedule III, which would lump cannabis in with ketamine, anabolic steroids, and Tylenol with codeine, also would open the door to more research, which could boost the drug’s medical applications, Reilly said.

The change, prompted by a directive from President Joe Biden to review the issue, would be an acknowledgment from the federal government that there are medical benefits to cannabis use, he said.

Rainone said he sees reclassification as a step in the right direction, but he also thinks it raises the risk of multinational corporations horning in on the cannabis trade.

“This is an opportunity for Big Pharma to get involved in research and sell it with a prescription,” he said.

Richard Evans, a Northampton lawyer and longtime legalization advocate, agreed that this could happen.

“I think it’s likely the benefits of cannabis will be exploited fully by Big Pharma,” he said.

At the same time, Rainone wonders if the government will adjust the current rule that requires anyone who dispenses a Schedule III drug to be classified as a pharmacist.

No changes are expected to the medical marijuana programs now licensed in 38 states or the legal recreational cannabis markets in 23 states, but it’s unlikely they would meet the federal production, record-keeping, prescribing and other requirements for Schedule III drugs, an Associated Press analysis stated.

Reclassification won’t change pot businesses’ inability to deal with banks or credit cards, or to obtain home mortgages. Advocates have been pressing for passage of legislation that would free banks from the sanctions they face under current law for dealing with the cannabis industry.

The SAFE Banking Act of 2021 passed the House that year and was referred to the Senate Banking Committee.

That committee this year passed the SAFER Banking Act, which the American Bankers Association, noting that many banks refuse to deal with marijuana businesses, is urging Congress to pass.

“The solution is the bipartisan SAFER Banking Act, which would allow banks to provide services to the cannabis industry in those states where it’s now legal,” the association said in a statement Tuesday.

Reilly noted that legal challenges to the proposed reclassification are still possible, but it could become effective as early as the fall. The proposal must be reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, and then undergo a public comment period and review by an administrative judge.

Many advocates say reclassifying cannabis fails to clear up the confusion between state and federal policy, and that it should be decriminalized on the federal level.

“The bottom line is that marijuana policy will remain unclear,” Evans said.

“The fact is, it doesn’t belong in the Controlled Substances Act in the first place.”

James Pentland can be reached at jpentland@gazettenet.com.