Legalizing Cannabis Would Result in $1 Billion in Annual Tax Revenue for California
Legalizing recreational cannabis in California would result in roughly $1 billion in extra tax revenue for the state, according to a new analysis released by the California Department of Finance.
The report, conducted by Department of Finance director Michael Cohen and legislative analyst Mac Taylor and reported to Attorney General Kamala Harris, states that California stands to gain around $1 billion in tax revenue if voters approved an initiative to legalize cannabis that advocates are hoping to place on this November’s ballot.
“In total, our best estimate is that the state and local governments could eventually collect net additional revenues that could range from the high hundreds of millions of dollars to over $1 billion annually”, the analysis states.
The $1 billion would come from a 15% excise tax on retail cannabis sales, in addition to a $9.25 per ounce tax on the cultivation of flowering cannabis buds and a $2.75 tax on non-flowering parts of the plant (such as the leaves). This is the system put in place by the Adult Use of Marijuana Act.
The analysis notes that the final figures could change based on a wide variety of factors, such as local bans on cannabis sales, cannabis consumption rates decreasing or increasing, and whether or not the federal government continues a hands-off approach in states that have legalized the plant.
The full analysis can be found by clicking here.
– TheJointBlog