NEWS & RESOURCES

“We’re urging the Legislature and Administration to act quickly and freeze the tax at 15%. If we want a regulated market to survive in California, the time to intervene is now,” O’Gorman Jenkins said. 

"Raising the cannabis excise tax from 15% to 19% during a market collapse is the equivalent of throwing an anchor to a drowning industry,” wrote Alex Freedman to me by email. “AB 564 offers a critical lifeline to California’s legal cannabis market to help stabilize an emerging industry that supports tens of thousands of jobs and millions in state revenue.”

Congrats to Leslie Mortland, Senior Cultivation Manager with 710 Labs, a CaCOA member and multi-state cannabis brand that focuses on organic, small-batch cannabis. Cannabis Business Times spotlighted her cannabis cultivation expertise, sharing game-changing insights she's gained that help her team excel.

We are grateful to the Assembly Business and Professions Committee members for recognizing the problematic aspects of AB 762. While we always appreciate the legislature's attention to environmental concerns, this bill would have created severe unintended consequences for patients, consumers, and our struggling legal cannabis industry. The committee's decision reflects thoughtful consideration of such a ban's real-world impacts on public health and safety.

“For years, cannabis lounges have always been talked about as some kind of game change for dispensaries, but it just hasn’t come to pass,” Alex Freedman, the president of the California Cannabis Operators Association.

Amy O'Gorman Jenkins, representing CaCOA, outlined how the organization is "proud to sponsor AB 1027 by Assemblymember Sharp-Collins, a measured and thoughtful bill that strengthens oversight of cannabis testing to improve transparency, support enforcement consistency, and reinforce consumer confidence in California's cannabis market."