CalMatters: ‘This tax could kill this industry.’ California cannabis operators brace for increase

EXCERPT:

Industry representatives warn that further raising taxes will push price-sensitive customers back into the illicit market, hurting businesses teetering on the edge and actually lowering cannabis tax revenue in the long run.

“The math isn’t there,” said Amy O’Gorman Jenkins, executive director and lobbyist for the California Cannabis Operators Association. “We have no objections to how cannabis tax revenues are being spent. All we’re maintaining is that you can’t squeeze blood from a stone.”

They haven’t given up, though repealing the tax increase now that it’s taken effect will be even more challenging.

Assembly Bill 564, which would set the cannabis excise tax at 15% through the end of June 2031, passed the Assembly unanimously in May and now awaits consideration in the Senate.

Assemblymember Matt Haney, the San Francisco Democrat who introduced the measure, said he will keep fighting to get it to the governor. But he was furious that the Senate allowed the tax hike to take effect, which he said sent a message to legal cannabis operators that there is no incentive to follow the rules.  

“This tax could kill this industry and there’s still not enough being done,” he said. “California is going to forfeit what should have been a huge opportunity for our state.”

READ FULL ARTICLE: California tax on legal weed increases as industry struggles | CalMatters