CA LEGISLATORS TO VOTE ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA TAX BILLS APRIL 18th
SACRAMENTO April 9, 2016 – California legislative committees are considering two different bills by North Coast legislators to tax commercial medical marijuana.
• SB 987 by Sen. McGuire (Healdsburg) would impose a 15% excise tax on retail purchases of medical marijuana, above and beyond the current 7.5+% sales tax plus various local business taxes assessed by some localities.
• AB 2243 by Asm. Wood (Headsburg) would impose a cultivation tax of $9.25 per ounce on medical marijuana flowers, $2.75 per ounce on leaves, and $1.25 on each immature plant sold to licensed distributors in the state.…
March 18, 2016 – The 
March 1, 2016 – In a victory for citizen action and democracy, Hesperia city councilmembers unanimously voted to table their medical marijuana ban on its second reading (when ordinances are very rarely halted) on the very day of the dreaded MMRSA deadline for local control that had the League of Cities orchestrating bans throughout the state. The council instead directed staff to draft language allowing for home delivery and cultivation in the city. 
SACRAMENTO – California NORML has declared its opposition to a bill to impose a new 15% state excise tax on retail purchases of medical marijuana (
February 3, 2016 – Governor Jerry Brown has signed AB 21, an urgency measure introduced by Rep. Jim Wood that repeals a March 1 deadline in the new state medical marijuana law that some have interpreted as requiring local jurisdictions to ban or regulate medical marijuana cultivation, or lose their licensing authority. 
You can find a link to watch hearings online at 
UPDATE 1/27/16 – AB 21 has passed the Senate by a vote of 35-3 and was unanimously passed in the Assembly. It now goes to Gov. Brown’s desk, and will take effect immediately upon his signature, repealing the March 1 deadline for cities and counties to act and retain local licensing authority. 
