Activists to Hand Out Free Joints in Denver to Protest Proposed Tax Rate on Recreational Cannabis

Activists to Hand Out Free Joints in Denver to Protest Proposed Tax Rate on Recreational Cannabis

Today at 11am, activists will hand out hundreds of free joints in Denver, Colorado to protest a proposed tax rate for the newly-legal recreational cannabis industry which will be voted on this November.

The event will take place at Denver Civic Center Park, and will be entirely legal given that sharing cannabis is no longer a crime in Colorado, as long as they don’t receive payment.

According to No Over Taxation, the registered political committee behind the event; “This November, voters will vote on Proposition AA, which calls for an excise tax of 15% on wholesale marijuana, and a 15% sales tax on retail sales and transfers of marijuana”, they continue,  “These taxes are in addition to 2.9% local sales tax and 7.62% sales tax in Denver. Adding to the tax burden, Denver is proposing an extreme 15% local sales tax.  In Denver alone, the tax rate has the potential to become 52.62%.”

According to the group, “These tax increases will decimate small and medium sized marijuana businesses.  Only corporations the size of Walmart or Phillip Morris will be able to grow the amounts of marijuana necessary to be able to afford these extreme taxes.”

This is an issue, advocates say, because; “Marijuana legalization, if regulated properly, will provide for a new frontier in economic growth. However, through over regulation and over taxation, the fledgling industry risks going back into the hands of the black market, undoing decades of work in righting failed and expensive drug war policies.”

Those who have any questions about this event should contact Miguel Lopez, Volunteer Coordinator for No Over Taxation, at 720-338-8766.

– TheJoinBlog