Members of Maryland’s House and Senate have passed budget bills imposing increased taxes on adult-use marijuana products.
Currently, consumers pay a special 9 percent sales tax on adult-use marijuana products. Provisions approved by lawmakers in the state’s proposed budget package will increase the sales tax rate to 12 percent. (An initial version of the budget proposed raising the tax to 15 percent.)
NORML has lobbied Gov. Moore’s administration against imposing the tax hike, opining: “Marylanders already pay a premium tax on retail cannabis products. Raising these taxes even higher will undoubtedly drive prices out of reach for some consumers — thereby undermining the primary goal of legalization, which is to provide adults with safe, affordable, above-ground access to lab-tested products of known purity, potency, and quality. … This proposed tax increase will also hurt state-licensed businesses, many of which have already invested millions of dollars in up-front costs and are still struggling to break even.”
Because the House and Senate bills are not identical, differences in the measures will need to be reconciled by lawmakers prior to next Monday night, which marks the end of the 90-day legislative session.
Maryland is one of several states where elected officials are pushing to address budget deficits by raising taxes on state-legal cannabis products. In Michigan, the Governor has proposed levying a 32 percent wholesale tax on the sale of adult-use marijuana products. In New Jersey, the Governor has proposed raising a special supplementary tax on cannabis from $2.50 to $15 an ounce. In Ohio, the Governor has proposed doubling sales taxes on adult-use marijuana products. Last week in California, the state’s NORML chapter coordinated a lobby day in Sacramento to voice their support for legislation to halt a pending tax hike on legal cannabis products.
Are you among the tens of thousands of reform advocates who have contacted their elected officials this year? A state-by-state guide to pending marijuana legislation and NORML action alerts is available from NORML’s Take Action Center.