FIX UP
Is California’s new cannabis tax plan just a ‘Band-aid’ on a broken system?
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new budget proposal includes tax breaks for the industry, but many don’t believe it will be enough to save the industry, per MJBizDaily.
To make up for the eliminated excise tax, for example, retail excise taxes on cannabis purchases would increase from 15% to 19% in three years. That’s why industry advocates are pushing for more, like a complete overhaul of the system, from the governor.
“It’s a nice little Band-Aid for a functionally broken system that needs an overhaul, starting with reduction of taxes across the board,” said Doug Chloupek, founder and CEO of Juva Life.
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LICENCE LOTTERY
Illinois issues craft permits, launches lottery for disgruntled retail applicants
The state of Illinois has begun issuing permits to craft cannabis producers and will have a lottery for retail applicants who filed lawsuits demanding corrections to the previous licensing process, reports the Chicago Tribune.
Conditional licences were awarded to 40 craft growers last August, but just three recently received permits to begin construction on their facilities: Galaxy Labs, Mint Cannabis and Star Buds.
The controversial dispensary licence application has also been simplified and appears to invite out-of-state and non-social equity applicants to apply, too. “I don’t think anyone would tell you this (licensing process) has gone exactly as planned,” said Ryan Holz, who is representing a number of applicants who launched lawsuits. “Regulators were given an impossible task to grade every application like an exam. There’s too many ways to game the system.”
WHO’S WHO IN EU
Who are Europe’s medical cannabis consumers?
In what’s likely a first for cannabis policy, Rhode Island’s recently revised cannabis legalization bill would reserve 25% of retail licences for worker-owned co-ops and 25% for social equity applicants, reports Marijuana Moment.
More highlights:
- Marijuana possession convictions for amounts that will be legal will be automatically expunged by July of 2024; cases would be expedited for other petitioners
- State tax on adult-use sales would be 7%; excise taxes would be 10% and municipalities which host cannabis businesses would add a 3% tax
- 33 stores would be licensed at first, with nine reserved for existing medical dispensaries (at a $125,000 fee for the privilege)
- No company can have more than once licence, but investors can invest in multiple entities
The legislation still needs to be debated in two committees before heading to votes next week in the state House and Senate.
