California cuts cannabis taxes to heal ailing industry, but some say effort does too little

CALIFORNIA IS SIGNIFICANTLY overhauling its cannabis tax structure, including entirely eliminating a tax on growers, in an effort to boost a struggling legal industry begging for relief.

The changes, which were adopted last week as part of a broader state budget agreement, will also create tax credits for some cannabis businesses, expand labor rights within the industry and switch collection of a state excise tax from distributors to retailers. That tax will pause at 15 percent for three years, after which regulators could raise the rate to recoup lost revenue from discontinuing the cultivation tax.