"Whatever relief Michiganders may have felt has quickly ceded to outrage over one of the bill's key provisions: an added 24 percent wholesale tax on marijuana sales, to take effect in the new year. The tax will inevitably hike costs on its famously dirt-cheap products and possibly crush the flowering industry-just seven years after Michigan became the 10th state to legalize recreational weed with an overwhelming popular mandate."
"(The initial rates consist of a 10 percent excise tax added to the statewide 6 percent sales tax.) The Michigan Senate is also considering bills to place new restrictions on license eligibility and allow municipalities more input on decisions for proposed dispensary sites; although the local weed lobby approves of both measures as possible solutions to a well-noted market-saturation problem, many smaller store owners do not, fearing monopolization from bigger chains."
Michigan approved a budget provision adding a 24 percent wholesale tax on marijuana sales, effective next year. That levy combines with a 10 percent excise tax and the statewide 6 percent sales tax to raise the effective tax on each cannabis transaction to roughly 40 percent, the second-highest wholesale rate nationally. The higher tax will increase retail costs, threaten low-margin businesses, and could damage the emerging industry seven years after legalization. The Michigan Senate is also weighing tighter license rules and expanded municipal control over dispensary siting, creating tension between local industry groups and smaller store owners. The tax served as essential revenue for a tighter state budget and is likely to heighten marijuana's political salience ahead of upcoming elections.
Read at Slate Magazine
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