Pubdate: Wed, 22 Jul 2009
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2009 Los Angeles Times
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/bc7El3Yo
Website: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Julie Strack, Reporting from San Francisco
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Marijuana - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

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.

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."

The legislation was backed by Oakland's four medical marijuana 
dispensaries. There was no organized opposition.

The city's four dispensaries reported revenue of $19.7 million in the 
last fiscal year. Kaplan said budget gaps and a pledge by the Obama 
administration to stop prosecution of dispensaries that adhere to 
state laws have spurred officials to consider marijuana as a revenue 
source. The legislation was one of four mail-in ballot measures 
passed to help close the city's $83-million shortfall.

"It was the perfect moment," Kaplan said. "We had a horrible budget 
crisis in the city, and we were looking for revenue. . . . But it 
would hardly make sense for us to tax a business that might be shut 
down by the federal government."

Legislation is also being considered on a statewide level. 
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) introduced a bill earlier 
this year to legalize and tax marijuana. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake