Oakland, CA: Municipal voters will decide next week on whether to approve a first-in-the nation business tax on local medical marijuana providers.
If approved by voters on July 21, Measure F would impose a new business tax for “cannabis businesses” of $18 for every $1,000 of gross receipts.
Presently, Oakland’s medical cannabis dispensaries are taxed at the same rate as other retail sales businesses ($60 per year for the $50,000 of gross receipts, plus $1.20 for each additional $100,000).
Four dispensaries are licensed by the Oakland City Council to sell and dispense medical marijuana.
According to a financial analysis by the Oakland City Auditor, passage of the new tax would generate an estimated $300,000 in additional annual tax revenue.
Representatives from the Oakland City Council, the California Nurses Association, and the dispensary community are publicly backing the modified tax proposal, which they say will help the city avoid cutting public services.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500, or visit: http://www.smartvoter.org/2009/07/21/ca/alm/meas/F/. A similar medicinal marijuana tax proposal is being considered in Los Angeles.