California Industry calls for tax relief

A coalition of stakeholders representing the two populations most harmed by the War on Drugs plan to descend upon Sacramento's Capitol steps on Thursday, January 13 for an 11AM Rally and Press conference.

"For 40+ years, Black and Brown people, as well as Emerald Triangle legacy farmers, were locked up and denied freedoms for the same activity that is enriching the purse strings of many cannabis corporations today,"

Activist and co-organizer Amber E. Senter of Supernova Women, a nonprofit that works to empower Black and Brown people to become self-sufficient shareholders in the cannabis space.

"Not only has the State fallen short on its promise to right the wrongs inflicted upon minority communities by the War on Drugs, but it has also perpetuated regressive War on Drugs 2.0 policies through oppressive taxation, which has to end."

Supernova Women, Origins Council, and the 50+ operators expected to participate on January 13 are calling for the repeal of the excise tax for equity retailers and the repeal of the cultivation tax for all growers across the state.

"Our legacy cannabis farmers are pioneers who deserve to be protected and exalted,"

Genine Coleman, executive director of the Origins Council.  

"Thousands of small family-owned licensed cannabis farms across rural California are faced with a catastrophic collapse of the wholesale market, no pathway for direct to consumer sales, and in some cases tens of thousands of dollars in outstanding environmental compliance costs. Without the urgent elimination of the cultivation tax, we will see hundreds of these families abandoning their dreams, closing their farms, selling their land and leaving their beloved communities over this next year. Cannabis is the fifth most valuable crop in the U.S. according to a report by Leafly, and yet it remains the sole agricultural product in the nation taxed at cultivation."

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