Pubdate: Thu, 19 Dec 2013
Source: Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA)
Copyright: 2013 The Press-Enterprise Company
Contact: http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/letters_form.html
Website: http://www.pe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/830
Author: Xochitl Pena

PALM SPRINGS COUNCIL SETS MARIJUANA DISPENSARY TAX AT 10 PERCENT

PALM SPRINGS - The three legal medical marijuana dispensaries will now
be required to pay the city 10 percent of their proceeds starting Jan.
1 while the illegal operations will be required to pay 15 percent.

The Palm Springs City Council on Wednesday approved 4-1 the pot tax
rates and a series of other changes including the issuance of a fourth
dispensary license.

Palm Springs voters on Nov. 5 overwhelmingly approved Measure B - a
tax of up to 15 percent on the proceeds of medical marijuana
dispensaries.

Patients and the operator of at least one legal dispensary have
previously stated that a 10 percent rate is too high and could affect
the pricing for patients if the tax eventually has to be passed on.

But no one spoke against the tax rate at Wednesday's
meeting.

A proposed change that shop members and operators should be happy
about though is no longer requiring credit cards be used for purchase.

In addition to allowing a fourth pot shop, the City Council advised
staff to amend the city's medical marijuana dispensary ordinance to
allow cash, allow shops to operate on Sunday and require testing of
the product.

"I think we're taking some big steps here," said Mayor Steve Pougnet
of all the proposed changes.

Councilman Chris Mills though, voted "no" and was not on board for all
the amendments.

He was concerned with a recent audit of all three legal dispensaries
that showed they were all already accepting cash, which is a violation
of the city's ordinance.

"They all chose to ignore (the ordinance) and we have not stepped in
and stopped them from doing it," he said.

Mills said he considers that "every bit as illegal" as the
dispensaries that operate without a license.

City Attorney Doug Holland said the city decided to hold off on
enforcement action because the City Council was going to take up
allowing cash anyway.

Mills also doesn't think the city needs a fourth dispensary since only
about 15 percent of the more than 20,000 patients using the three
shops are city residents. The audit showed that the majority of
patients are from elsewhere.

The recent audit of the three legal medical marijuana dispensaries
showed that combined the three generate about $4.5 million a year in
proceeds. So the city is set to collect about $450,000 a year off the
legal ones.

City officials have said the tax revenue would be used to fund the
police and fire departments, to help regulate the medical cannabis
industry and to cover the costs of closing down illegal
dispensaries.

"Legal, safe access to medicine is crucial to people's health," said
Councilman Paul Lewin.
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MAP posted-by: Matt