Cal NORML Opposes Cannabis Cultivation Tax Hike

November 22, 2021 – The California Dept. of Taxation and Fee Administration has ruled that the cultivation tax on legal cannabis be raised from $9.65 to $10.08 per dry-weight ounce of flower, from $2.87 to $3 for leaf, and from $1.35 to $1.41 for fresh material starting on January 1, 2022.
California Should Be Reducing, Not Increasing Cannabis Taxes
Cal NORML denounced the tax hike as wrong-headed and untimely. “The legal industry is already so burdened by excessive taxes and regulation that it cannot compete with unlicensed marketers,” says California NORML Director Dale Gieringer. “California needs to be reducing, not increasing cannabis taxes to make the legal market more competitive.”

The cultivation tax is especially burdensome on licensed farmers, who are struggling from a price collapse due to overproduction. Wholesale prices for outdoors flower have plummeted 60% in the past year to as little as $200 – $500 per pound according to MJBizDaily.com. At this rate, the new cultivation tax amounts to a whopping 30% – 80% of the cost of production. Even after the tax has been paid, producers have no assurance that the crop will ultimately be sold. Meanwhile, the costs are passed along to consumers and magnified at every subsequent stage of production.
The CDTFA is authorized by law to adjust the cultivation tax yearly in line with inflation; in the case of cannabis, however, prices have collapsed, not inflated.
“The cultivation tax was designed to bolster prices against a possible collapse in the legalized market,” says Gieringer, who once supported it. “The fear was that if cannabis became as cheap as comparable herbal products like tea, the price could drop to a few dollars per pound, or just pennies per joint. In actuality, however, California’s costly taxes and regulations have raised the price for legal cannabis substantially above what it was prior to legalization.”
A 2020 poll of Cal NORML members found consumers want lower taxes on cannabis, with 76% of respondents naming it as their top legislative priority. Prop. 64’s taxes and local restrictions sent many Californians back to unlicensed and untested suppliers when it took effect in 2017, leaving many medical patients and others without a safe and affordable source for cannabis, and fueling the illicit market.
“California has no need for further cannabis tax money. The Legislative Analyst’s Office has estimated that the state will have a budget surplus of $31 billion next year. The cultivation tax is particularly onerous and cumbersome to administer. We urge that it be eliminated,” said Gieringer.
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Montana: Officials Create New Drug Court to Focus Solely on Expunging Past Marijuana Convictions

Under the state’s new adult-use legalization law, those with past marijuana convictions may petition for either the expungement of their records or for a re-sentencing of their conviction.
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Republican Representative Introduces Legislation to Repeal Federal Marijuana Prohibition

Republican Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC) introduced the States Reform Act, a comprehensive bill that repeals the federal prohibition of marijuana, expunges federal non-violent marijuana crimes, promotes local ownership in the emerging regulated industry, and places certain restrictions on the advertising of regulated cannabis products, among other federal reforms. 
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Medical Cannabis Sales Finally Set to Begin in West Virginia

“While today’s news comes as a welcome relief for West Virginians, it is far too little too late for the tens of thousands of patients who have suffered needlessly in the interim as politicians and regulators largely dragged their feet,” NORML State Policies Director Carly Wolf said.
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Veterans consume marijuana illegally everyday – here’s how you can change that

Despite medical marijuana programs being passed or enacted in a supermajority of states, federal policy currently prohibits VA-affiliated doctors from even recommending medical cannabis to veterans in those states where such use is legal — thus forcing military veterans to seek the advice of a private, out-of-network physician. 
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Oakland Public Safety Committee Votes to Prohibit City Employees’ Cannabis Metabolites Testing

Oakland, CA — Today, November 9, 2021, the Oakland Public Safety Committee voted unanimously to forward the proposed ordinance introduced by Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan and co-authored by Council President Fortunato Bas, Councilmember Kalb, and Pro Tem Thao, creating a Prohibition Against City Employees Cannabis Metabolites Testing.
Currently, the city tests employees for cannabis metabolites. This substance can show in a test for weeks after use, and is not an accurate indication of impairment. New York City and Philadelphia have ordinances that protect all employees, with the exception of federal employees from cannabis testing. Washington, DC and Atlanta have mayoral orders that protect city employees from employer discrimination for off-the-job use of marijuana.
The ordinance will now go to the Rules committee and If it passes, it would make Oakland the first city in California to protect its employees against job discrimination for off-the-job cannabis use.
After introducing the ordinance’s language and lamenting the city’s inability to fill many open positions, Vice Mayor Kaplin noted, “The fact that we are still in this day and age excluding people for off-duty cannabis use in the city that invented cannabis legalization makes no sense, and it means streets not being paved and garbage not being picked up and permits not being issued. This is not in alignment with our vision for justice and not in alignment with our needs as a public-service institution.”
She continued, “I want to add that it is also my goal that we will work with our federal lobbyist on those positions that we are being ordered to do it that we should seek to change federal law, and explain to our federal decision makers that what people are being tested for is not impairment at work; what people are being tested for is unrelated off-the-job conduct, and it is both unfair and not useful in terms of getting the jobs done.”
Councilmember Fife, chairing the meeting, said she wholeheartedly supported the item, especially in the face of the crisis of vacant positions in Oakland. She and councilmembers Gallo and Reid, along with Vice Mayor Kaplan, voted in favor of the measure.
Oakland also lead the way in passing a resolution in favor of SB 1256, Asm. Quirk’s pending bill to end employment discrimination based on inactive metabolite testing for cannabis for most employees, public and private, at the state level. Oakland was quickly followed by San Francisco also passing a similar resolution in July 2021, and by LA City Councilmember Raman introducing a resolution in support of AB 1256 in October. “California has long had a progressive stance on the consumption of cannabis — but it has fallen short in protecting its workers who use cannabis off the job,” said Councilmember Raman. “Each day we neglect removing these outdated drug testing requirements is another day we are erecting roadblocks to ensuring a truly robust and equitable workforce.”
On June 15, 2021 the California State Personnel Board (SPB) ruled that the California Department of Transportation must reinstate an employee who failed a urine test for marijuana use, because such a test does not establish that an employee is under the influence of marijuana when reporting for duty. This ruling should protect most state workers against employment discrimination due to drug testing, but not city or private company employees. Read more.
Amazon announced it would cease employment drug testing for cannabis in June, and New York is the latest state to protect its recreational cannabis users from job discrimination; 21 states plus Washington, DC (but not California) protect medical marijuana users against similar discrimination.
Read more about Cal NORML’s Employment Rights campaign.
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Federal Housing Authority to Continue Taking Punitive Actions Against Marijuana Consumers

In a letter addressed to Rep. Eleanor Holmes-Norton, the agency says that it will continue to enforce policies that involve the “termination of the tenancy of any household” in instances where a tenant is found to have engaged in the use of a controlled substance while on the premises — “including [the use of] state legalized medical marijuana.”
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California Celebrates 25 Years of Medical Cannabis Access

Today, the majority of US states regulate medical cannabis access and 18 have legalized adult use. Arguably, none of these political and cultural advancements would have been possible without the success of California’s 1996 campaign and the efforts of those activists who worked so hard for the law’s passage a quarter of a century ago.
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Michigan: Governor Signs Measure Expanding Eligibility for Participation in Medical Marijuana Industry

House Bill 4295 removes the ban on those with previous felony and misdemeanor marijuana convictions from participating in the legal medical marijuana industry.
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Mississippi: Governor No Longer Expected to Call a Special Session to Address Medical Marijuana Access

Republican Gov. Tate Reeves appears to have backed off a pledge to hold a special legislative session this fall to enact medical cannabis legalization. Lawmakers reached consensus on a medical marijuana bill in September, but the Governor has refused to take any further action on it.
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