The New Marijuana Laws May Approve Up To 40% Sales Tax

Marijuana Laws May Cause Cannabis To Become Expensive

Colorado State lawmakers are now looking to change the sales tax of recreational marijuana and they are thinking about rising it up to 40%, which is certainly very high and could have unexpected results. It will be this next week, when the Joint Committee will introduce the bill, which was also recommended by the"Amendment 64 Task Force", to the legislature. 

At the moment, medical marijuana in the State of Colorado, is taxed with the same rate as alcohol and tobacco. People who live in the city of Denver, pay around 8% and this rate varies, depending on the county or city within the State of Colorado. 

According to the new marijuana laws, 15% of the new tax rate on marijuana would become a special tax and another 15% would become an excise tax. There would also be an additional normal State and local sales tax, which would vary, as mentioned above, but would make the new sales tax on marijuana around 35% to 40%.

The Different Opinions On The New Marijuana Laws

The Joint Committee has State Rep. Dan Pabon as its leader and he stated that the tax rate, which has been implemented on cannabis is simply not enough to cover some of the expenses that these new laws will have. "We have looked at the numbers and the estimates and we don't think frankly that's going to be enough to deal with the licensing piece of this. We need a robust enforcement mechanism and we need to fund that enforcement mechanism." said Pabon. 

If these new marijuana laws are passed, at least 15% of the special tax will be used for the new enforcement strategies, for public education and health safety. According to the new proposal, the first $40 million of the revenue generated by the excise tax, would be used for building the public school's capital, as was approved in Amendment 64. 

Some local Denver news channels, interviewed some of the local marijuana dispensaries and asked them their opinion on this proposed new tax rate. The owners of these businesses, state that they are worried that some of their customers will prefer to buy from the black market again, as they would not charge this tax and the herb would most likely be less expensive from them. Some of the marijuana dispensaries owners, also told the local news channels that they have already paid for licensing costs and that these were not cheap at all.  They also said that they believe those fees should be more than enough to cover enforcement funds and that the tax rate that is being proposed is simply an outrage. 

Pabon also stated that the new tax rate would only be approved for recreational cannabis and that the Joint Committee, will have the new bill ready this week, so that it can be presented at legislature this same week as well. If the bill is accepted, the new tax rate would be placed on November's ballot. 

These Marijuana Laws Are Really Too Harsh

It is okay for the government to have a high tax rate on recreational cannabis, but the proposed marijuana laws are simply too high, as charging over 35% of the products real price is simply too much. Just as some of the cannabis dispensary owners stated, they have already paid for licensing and other operational costs, which should be more than enough. 

These new prices and sales tax would only affect the consumer and it would certainly lead for people to either start growing their own or to find their herb somewhere else. Please help by liking and sharing this article and you can also join our newsletter, by leaving us your email in the box to the right. We will send you some interesting information about cannabis and the new marijuana laws around the world.