Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Pot tax proposal heads to city council

A 15 percent levy on Pineapple Express?

The city council's Rules Committee on Monday (June 20) voted to move a proposal floated by councilmember Mark Kersey to impose a 10 percent tax on the sale of marijuana at approved dispensaries within city limits. Despite Kersey's assurances to the contrary, medical marijuana patients are worried about a potential spike in the cost of their medication.

"I personally disagree with the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, and will be voting against it...but we have a responsibility to plan ahead for the changing legal environment regarding recreational marijuana," Kersey told a crowd of marijuana supporters and opponents before they were given an opportunity to provide testimony.

"The measure in front of us today would be contingent upon the state initiative passing, and as such would only apply to recreational marijuana if legalized," Kersey continued, stating that revenue would be necessary to offset increased law enforcement and other costs to the city if legalization takes place. "I believe this is a timely venture, as there's already talk at the state level to ban the future imposition of local gross receipts taxes."

Sponsored
Sponsored

Referring to the text of November's legalization proposal more than once, Kersey assured that "the state law makes it very clear that cities do not have the ability to tax marijuana for medicinal purposes."

In a handout prepared by Kersey's office, however, it's noted that several cities upon which the local law is modeled specifically target medical cannabis for taxation, often at lower rates than recreational cannabis would be taxed at if it were to become legal. Others were more ambiguous.

In the actual language of Kersey's proposal, both "cannabis businesses" and "medical marijuana businesses" are defined as "any business activity which entails the distribution, delivery, dispensing, exchanging, bartering or sale of either medical or non-medical cannabis."

While one section does allow the city council to set different rates for different business types (with a cap of 15 percent, which would be in addition to another 15 percent state tax imposed on non-medical cannabis by the statewide measure), as the language was written in a handout provided to meeting attendees appears to call for a tax of 8 percent on all city dispensaries, whether medicinal in nature or not.

Meanwhile, the state ballot measure seems to explicitly sanction, not ban, local taxes, stating in part that "the taxes imposed shall be in addition to any other tax imposed by a city, county, or city and county."

"This measure is a double-edged sword," warned Phil Rath of the United Medical Marijuana Coalition, which represents most of the city's existing legal dispensaries. "Without a realistic plan to end illegal storefronts, this tax will only increase our risk of going out of business. The oldest legal operations in the city have only been operational a few months and have not reached economic stability. The addition of a large tax on patients in the midst of a transition from a black market to a regulated industry could have serious consequences."

Other opponents, ignoring Kersey's assurances both before and after testimony, attacked the tax primarily as a burden on medical patients. Proponents of the tax largely used their speaking time to voice opposition to the presence of marijuana in general, in either medical or non-medical uses. One repeatedly referred to "the 25 pages of pot ads in the Reader" as a particular societal ill.

After discussion, the committee voted 4-1 to refer the measure to the full council for consideration, with the goal of placing an amended version on the November ballot.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Last plane out of Seoul, 1950

Memories of a daring escape at the start of a war
Next Article

La Clochette brings croissants—and cassoulet—to Mission Valley

Whatever's going on with this bakery business, Civita Park residents get a decent meal

The city council's Rules Committee on Monday (June 20) voted to move a proposal floated by councilmember Mark Kersey to impose a 10 percent tax on the sale of marijuana at approved dispensaries within city limits. Despite Kersey's assurances to the contrary, medical marijuana patients are worried about a potential spike in the cost of their medication.

"I personally disagree with the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, and will be voting against it...but we have a responsibility to plan ahead for the changing legal environment regarding recreational marijuana," Kersey told a crowd of marijuana supporters and opponents before they were given an opportunity to provide testimony.

"The measure in front of us today would be contingent upon the state initiative passing, and as such would only apply to recreational marijuana if legalized," Kersey continued, stating that revenue would be necessary to offset increased law enforcement and other costs to the city if legalization takes place. "I believe this is a timely venture, as there's already talk at the state level to ban the future imposition of local gross receipts taxes."

Sponsored
Sponsored

Referring to the text of November's legalization proposal more than once, Kersey assured that "the state law makes it very clear that cities do not have the ability to tax marijuana for medicinal purposes."

In a handout prepared by Kersey's office, however, it's noted that several cities upon which the local law is modeled specifically target medical cannabis for taxation, often at lower rates than recreational cannabis would be taxed at if it were to become legal. Others were more ambiguous.

In the actual language of Kersey's proposal, both "cannabis businesses" and "medical marijuana businesses" are defined as "any business activity which entails the distribution, delivery, dispensing, exchanging, bartering or sale of either medical or non-medical cannabis."

While one section does allow the city council to set different rates for different business types (with a cap of 15 percent, which would be in addition to another 15 percent state tax imposed on non-medical cannabis by the statewide measure), as the language was written in a handout provided to meeting attendees appears to call for a tax of 8 percent on all city dispensaries, whether medicinal in nature or not.

Meanwhile, the state ballot measure seems to explicitly sanction, not ban, local taxes, stating in part that "the taxes imposed shall be in addition to any other tax imposed by a city, county, or city and county."

"This measure is a double-edged sword," warned Phil Rath of the United Medical Marijuana Coalition, which represents most of the city's existing legal dispensaries. "Without a realistic plan to end illegal storefronts, this tax will only increase our risk of going out of business. The oldest legal operations in the city have only been operational a few months and have not reached economic stability. The addition of a large tax on patients in the midst of a transition from a black market to a regulated industry could have serious consequences."

Other opponents, ignoring Kersey's assurances both before and after testimony, attacked the tax primarily as a burden on medical patients. Proponents of the tax largely used their speaking time to voice opposition to the presence of marijuana in general, in either medical or non-medical uses. One repeatedly referred to "the 25 pages of pot ads in the Reader" as a particular societal ill.

After discussion, the committee voted 4-1 to refer the measure to the full council for consideration, with the goal of placing an amended version on the November ballot.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tuna within 3-day range Back in the Counts

Mind the rockfish regulations
Next Article

Remote work = cleaner air for San Diego

Locals working from home went from 8.1 percent to 17.8 percent
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader