Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Steve Hilton and State Treasurer/Lt. Gov. candidate Fiona Ma spoke at the IgniteIt cannabis conference in Los Angeles on October 7, both strongly stating that California’s cannabis law needs fixing.
A big part of the problem, Ma said, is that taxes are “definitely too high” for the legal industry to compete with unlicensed operators. Ma, who Cal NORML has endorsed for the state’s Lieutenant Governor, said she wants to “help spearhead trying to get something back on the ballot to change what is happening” in cannabis. Ma said she’d like to see the legislator put the measure on the ballot, and is ready to head a working group towards that end.
Hilton also spoke at the IgniteIt cannabis event where Ma appeared, calling for greater law enforcement efforts against Chinese-linked illicit marijuana cultivation operations, saying he would expand the California Highway Patrol into a “proper” state police force to handle the problem.
That same day, Hilton posted a set of video / memes on Twitter from a visit to A Therapeutic Alternative cannabis dispensary in Sacramento. He highlighted the fact that California’s cannabis industry pays a “RIDICULOUS 38% tax,” and then addressed where cannabis tax money is going. The Trump-endorsed candidate did a DOGE-style analysis of cannabis prevention monies, claiming they’re funding left-wing political organizations. Now he says in the video that the organizations are “harvesting votes” for Democrats. Cal NORML business member Kim Cargile from ATA responded that she has called for an audit of cannabis tax funds.
Cal NORML looked at the organizations funded by Cannabis Taxes via the Tier 3 YEPEITA (Youth Education, Prevention, Early Intervention, and Treatment Account) and could find no overtly political ones, much less any that are harvesting votes. We would, however, also would like to see an audit of those programs, as well as meaningful cannabis tax reform in California.
Cargile reports that she has also invited Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra to visit her shop, but has not heard back from him.