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An initiative that would legalize marijuana and hemp and impose taxes on them will appear on the Nov. 8 ballot. What backers have dubbed the “Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act” would also establish packaging, labeling, advertising and marketing standards and restrictions for marijuana products, including prohibiting marketing and advertising marijuana to minors.
The initiative also authorizes resentencing and destruction of records for prior marijuana convictions. The measure would impose a state excise tax on retail sales of marijuana
equal to 15 percent of the sales price and state cultivation taxes on marijuana of $9.25 per ounce of flowers and $2.75 per ounce of leaves. The initiative allows for local regulation and taxation of marijuana and exempts medical marijuana from some taxation.
Passage of the initiative would result in net reduced costs ranging from
tens of millions of dollars to potentially exceeding $100 million annually to
state and local governments related to enforcing certain marijuana-related
offenses, handling the related criminal cases in the court system, and incarcerating and supervising certain marijuana offenders, according to an analysis conducted by the Legislative Analyst’s Office and Department of Finance.
The analysis also found passage would result in net additional state and
local tax revenues potentially ranging from the high hundreds of millions of
dollars to over $1 billion annually related to the production and sale of
marijuana. Most of these funds would be required to be spent for specific
purposes such as substance use disorder education, prevention and treatment.
Hemp is a variety of the cannabis plant that is grown specifically for
the industrial uses of its products. It can be refined into a variety of
commercial items including paper, textiles, clothing, biodegradable plastics,
paint, insulation, biofuel, food and animal feed.
The initiative required valid signatures from 365,880 registered voters, 5 percent of the total votes cast for governor in the 2014 general election, to qualify for the ballot, Secretary of State Alex Padilla said Tuesday when announcing the measure had qualified for the ballot.
