California Ends Cannabis Cultivation Tax to Curb Illicit Sales
SACRAMENTO – California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new bill into law that will restructure the state’s adult-use cannabis program, eliminating a cannabis cultivation tax to relieve the ever-growing market prices and pivot consumers away from illicit resources. The new law, known as AB 195 , was crafted to address the government’s desire to fix a years-long problem with California’s cannabis program. AB 195, which passed with nearly unanimous support, will shift the cultivation tax currently placed on growers to a 15-percent point-of-sale excise tax that is capped at that rate for the next three years. Originally, Newsom proposed an eighteen-month cap. The legislation also will take more direct steps to sway consumers away from the illicit market by bolstering violation enforcement against illegal operators with a $10,000 per-violation-per-day fine for landlords who knowingly lease to illicit manufacturers, retailers, and distributors. Additionally, the law offers social equity o...