Oakland voters approve a tax on medical marijuana

[babylonsister]

It's only a matter of time now. :smoke:

Oakland voters approve a tax on medical marijuana

Shops selling pot in the cash-strapped city will pay $18 on each $1,000 in sales. The city administrator estimates that it could raise $300,000 in annual revenue.

By Julie Strack
July 22, 2009


Reporting from San Francisco -- Oakland voters resoundingly approved a tax increase on medical marijuana Tuesday evening, the first such tax of its kind in the nation.

The measure will levy an $18 tax for every $1,000 in gross marijuana sales. Firms in the city now pay a $1.20 business tax on each $1,000 in sales. Other cities may soon follow suit. Voters approved the measure by a margin of 80%, according to preliminary results released by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.

Oakland City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan, who co-sponsored the measure, said it could generate $1 million in annual revenue.

The city administrator places the estimate at about $300,000.

The Los Angeles City Council proposed a medical marijuana tax July 15, and Kaplan said Berkeley and San Francisco may consider similar legislation.

"Oakland will show that this can work if it's done right," said Keith Stephenson, executive director of the Purple Heart Patient Center.

"There will be some cash-strapped areas that will use this to balance their budgets."

more...

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-pot-tax22-2009jul22,0,7339976.story

[ixion]

1. yet compared with stories like this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3982921


It's sounding more and more like the WoD madness will continue. :(

[SoCalNative]

2. Sorry but I have a problem with taxing any medication prescribed

by a physician for treatment. We do not pay a sales or any other tax on prescription medications now, at least in California.

Were marijuana to be legalized and sold like cigarettes to the public then absolutely tax it. But not when it is a medical necessity for some patients.