“The Mi Ahead road plan would close a escape that exempt the basket marijuana industry, which applies to similar smoking products, such as cigarettes and other tobacco items,” said Whitmer.
The state taxes Cigarettes at $ 2 per pack and takes a 32% tax on non -cigarette tobacco products in large levels.
The retailers say that the marijuana industry already has difficulties.
“”There are other means for (Whitmer) to repair the roads, “said Al Williams, president of Dacut, Detroit dispensary. “We want to work with it on this, but 32% is ridiculous.”
“”It couldn’t happen at a worse moment, “said Williams, who arises for the president of the Michigan Democratic Party. “I think this increase would actually encourage more people to operate on the black market.”
In relation:
State has 850 retailersalmost double the 432 in 2021. As the offer developed, prices have dropped: an ounce of marijuana sold an average of $ 74 in 2024, against $ 204 in 2021.
In 2023, the Marijuana excise tax generated 270 million dollars In income for the state. Tax revenues According to recreational marijuana sales, marijuana sales are divided between schools, roads and local governments. Michigan sells an average of around $ 265 million a month of marijuana, according to the Cannabis regulatory agency.
The increase in tax would ultimately be paid by consumers: a vape pen that costs an average of $ 20 would be about $ 27 or more, Williams said.
Some companies may not survive, said Cassin Coleman, emeritus president of the National Cannabis Industry Association’s scientific advisory committee.
“There is not enough space currently in the margins of our industry to assume another 30%burden,” said Coleman. “It would therefore mean that the price would increase … or people could not continue and leave the industry, which would also increase prices due to the reduction in supply,” said Coleman.
‘Full panic’
One of the reasons why cannabis is so cheap in Michigan is that there is a supersaturation of products on the market due to low state taxes, said Robin Schneider, director of Michigan Cannabis Industry Association.
“The value of the product, because there are so much cannabis in our system, the prices have dropped, so these producers are not even able to recover the cost of what it costs to manage the installation,” said -Ali said.
Defenders warn that the wholesale tax could increase cannabis prices, forcing people to obtain their supply elsewhere.
Business owners must already compete with the black market, which causes prices below the market value. The additional wholesale tax could cause companies that are barely heading even in the red, said Schneider.
“All I hear every day is how terrible everyone is going,” she said. “Everyone in the industry is in panic at the moment.”
For each 1% increase in tax, there is up to a 2.4% decrease in legal market participation, according to Beau Whitney, chief economist of the National Industrial Hemp Council of America.