Santa Cruz is hoping to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries in the city, but that does not mean that it will be imposing new taxes on them, at least for now. In addition to state and federal taxes, the dispensaries currently pay a 9.5 cent sales tax to the city. It has been suggested that an additional tax be paid by the dispensaries, in part to limit the number of nonlocals who come to Santa Cruz to buy marijuana. According to some estimates, only 25 percent of the customers at the city’s two dispensaries live in the City of Santa Cruz. Another 50 percent live in the county, while 25 percent come from out-of-county.
Dispensary owners are unhappy about the idea that a new tax on their business is even being debated. Lisa Malyneux of Greenway Compassionate Relief says, “We’re medical but we’re not,” pointing out that if marijuana was really considered a medicine like the state claims, it would not be taxable. She adds that the high taxes are a burden on her business: “Everybody wants their money, but they don’t want the facility to make money.”
Fortunately for her, however, it will not be that easy to impose a new tax on the dispensaries. While the city’s Planning Commission is holding a second public hearing on regulations this Thursday, any new tax will have to be approved by the voters first. It is more likely that they will simply limit the number of dispensaries in the city to the two that currently do business here.
Read more at KSBW.
