Oppose SB 987 in California: A 'Sick Tax' Against Medical Marijuana Users

Click here to sign a petition opposing SB 987. Tell lawmakers not to impose additional taxes on legal medical cannabis.
http://org.salsalabs.com/o/182/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=19130

SB 987 is harmful for patients. Medical cannabis is already subject to ordinary sales and use tax of between 7.5 and 10%, depending on the jurisdiction. Additionally, some cities and counties already impose an additional local tax of up to 15% on medical cannabis.

Adding an additional 15% to the cost of medical cannabis, which is not covered by insurance, will be an economic hardship for legal patients – especially those who are already economically vulnerable.

Imposing additional tax will be bad for public safety. Inflating the cost of legal medical cannabis will force some patients to buy less expensive cannabis from the unregulated illicit market – where there are no safety standards or oversight. That is the opposite of what regulations are supposed to accomplish.

SB 987 proposes that some of the money raised by new taxes will pay for state licensing and cleaning up environmental damage from medical cannabis cultivation. However, there are other ways to pay for these costs. Applicants for state medical cannabis licenses are already required to pay all of the costs of licensing, and cultivators who violate environmental laws are already penalized to cover the cost of clean up. We don’t need an additional tax on patients for these purposes.

Join ASA in opposing SB 987 today!