Here’s something I just happened across that should be cause for concern…
From the article:
“Under California’s legalization legislation, however, cannabis businesses are required to pay taxes on all products, including donations and samples. There’s no way to dodge it: the law has implemented a track-and-trace system designed to follow all flower and cannabis products through the supply chain from cultivation to sale. Every step of the supply chain has its own tax requirements, too. So if a business doesn’t pay taxes on products, the Bureau of Cannabis Control will know.
This area of the law drastically impacts Sweetleaf because it’s a donation-based business—a model that mirrors the culture of Proposition 215, the law which ultimately granted patients the legal right to procure and use medical marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation. According to Joe Airone, who founded Sweetleaf in ‘96, the collective delivered over 100 lbs of cannabis (flower and shake that was donated to Airone from cultivators in Humboldt County) to 150 patients last year. Under current law, Airone would have to pay over $50,000 in taxes on 100 lbs cannabis he’s not making any return on. As a result, Sweetleaf has been forced to halt business, leaving 150 severely ill, low-income patients without cannabis.”
@Meesh if this is what you were talking about…damn. Taxing cannabis that is DONATED to terminally ill and low income patients? That’s a whole ‘nother level of WTF right there.
A byproduct of legalization should be the lack of a black market for recreational use, not creating the need for a black market for medical patients. Just like you were saying @99PerCent.
This is the type of situation that needs to be avoided when the states that have not yet legalized begin to do so.