It’s Wrong To Tax Medical Cannabis Patients!
Hearing Exempting Medical Cannabis Patients from the Excise “Sin” Tax
In WA state, on January 24th, a hearing was held on HB 1453 proposing eliminating the 37% tax for medical cannabis patients who have a qualifying medical condition and a medical authorization.
The bill sponsors are Representatives Sharon Wylie, Mike Chapman, Shelly Kloba.
The reason for the bill is that the cost of medical-grade cannabis with the 37% excise tax is far out of the range of chronically ill patients — who are disproportionately poor, and whose consumption is generally higher to treat the symptoms of their diseases.
As a result of the 10 years of the excise tax most producers have stopped growing medical grade cannabis.
Therefore, the WA State Medical Cannabis Excise Tax is collapsing the medial cannabis market leaving patients suffering.
No other medicine is taxed in WA state in this way.
Comparison of state cannabis excise taxes:
Washington
37%
Oregon
17 %
California
15%
Colorado
15%
Maine
10%
Nevada
10%
Massachusetts
6.3%
Alaska
0%
HB 1453 Language
Provides a tax exemption from the 37 percent cannabis excise tax for qualifying patients and designated providers with a recognition card on purchases of cannabis products that are labeled as Department of Health (DOH) compliant product and tested in accordance with the DOH's rules.
Qualifying patients and designated providers who have opted to participate in the Medical Cannabis Authorization Database and be issued a recognition card, have an exemption from sales and use taxes on purchases of cannabis products identified by the Department of Health (DOH) as being a compliant cannabis product, but do not have an exemption from the 37 percent cannabis excise tax.
Here is the link to the recorded testimony from the session of the House Regulated Substances and Gaming Committee Cannabis Excise Tax Hearing on HB 1453 - 2023-24 which starts at 1:08.52. The testimony includes statement from Rep. Wylie, cannabis advocates and those of patients and parents of children with challenging diseases. The testimony is compelling.
Excerpts from Rep. Sharon Wylie’s Testimony:
Cannabis is serious medicine for people with serious diseases...
We felt at the time that as 502 rolled out there would be medical providers and recreational providers and that we would roll them in and, and there would be a separation between people who pretended to need it medically and people that needed it medically, it didn't quite work out the way we planned.
We still have many people who need cannabis, we still need research, but in the meantime, this bill would take the tax, the heavy, thirty seven percent tax off medical cannabis.
To register your support for this bill go to: https://app.leg.wa.gov/CSI/House
Select for Committee: Regulated Substances and Gaming
Select for Meetings: 1/24/2023 @ 4:00pm
Select radial button for HB 1453 – Providing a tax exemption for medical cannabis patients
Select “I would like my position noted for the legislative record”
Fill in form making sure to select Pro
Submit
Another issue to be addressed is the need to subsidize the cost of the yearly medical authorization and purchase of medical cannabis as Pennsylvania is doing.
Pennsylvania is subsidizing medical cannabis authorization fees for patients in financial hardship who are on programs like SNAP, Medicaid, and WIC.
In Pennsylvania the fee for a medical cannabis authorization is $50.
In WA the fee for a yearly authorization, for those that meet the qualifying conditions, is between $100-$150 to qualify as a medical patient.
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