Marijuana Moment reports
Now that Maryland voters have approved a marijuana legalization referendum at the ballot, the pressure is on for lawmakers to pass separate legislation to determine what the adult-use market will look like. To that end, a General Assembly cannabis task force met for the first time post-election on Tuesday to consider one key aspect of the future program: tax policy.
The Cannabis Referendum and Legalization Workgroup convened exactly one week after voters decisively passed the reform ballot measure, which triggers the implementation of complementary legislation covering basics like the legalization of possession and low-level home cultivation. But there’s still a lot more work to be done on issues like commercial production and sales, which are not covered by the current law.
Members of the workgroup—which was formed last year by House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D)—have spent a significant amount of time considering a wide range of marijuana policy issues over the last several months, and this latest meeting centered on how to tax cannabis and distribute revenue.
A representative of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) gave a presentation that went over how other legal states have approached taxing marijuana.
“With the passage of Question 4, Maryland is on track to make this significant impacts over the next few months as it relates to the legalization of cannabis,” Del. Luke Clippinger (D), who sponsored both the referendum bill as well as the implementation measure and serves as the chair of the workgroup, said in opening remarks on Tuesday.
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