California’s trademark high taxes and overwhelming, onerous, costly and confusing regulations are preventing the state from reaping the revenue benefits of legalizing the $7 billion marijuana market, a new study by the California Growers Association concludes. As of Thursday, California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control has sent about 980 warning letters to unlicensed pot sellers and ordered a marketing company to stop advertising vendors who don’t have permits, Bureau Chief of Communications Alex Traverso told CNSNews.com.
Less than one percent (0.78%) of the state’s 68,150 marijuana growers have obtained licenses, and as little as 25 percent of the cannabis consumed in California is currently being purchased from licensed retailers, “An Emerging Crisis: Barriers to Entry in California Cannabis – California Growers Association,” finds.
The reason: government greed and overregulation have made it easier and more practical to remain illegal – the same reasons companies typically cite for relocating to another state.
California’s “disregard or lack of concern for the cost (especially one-time costs) of regulatory compliance,” is keeping pot sellers underground, the study concludes.
Exceeding 60 percent, California’s effective tax rate is the highest of any state where cannabis is legal. Water, testing, and historic land use impact regulations are too costly and burdensome, the study finds. And, requiring licensed businesses to buy new generators, instead of retrofitting their current equipment to meet government standards, is both unnecessary and cost-prohibitive. Annual tax-revenue had, intially, been projected to be about one billion dollars.
More than half (57%) of the trade association’s members say a lack of clarity in the “hundreds of pages” of regulations and compliance rules is a significant barrier to entering the legal market.
And, “most Californians” are used to getting their marijuana from illegal sources and 20 percent of marijuana businesses began their operations prior to legalization, the study finds. What’s more, “as many as 30 percent of the growers in the state live off the grid.”
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