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The Hawaii Department of Revenue projects that legalizing adult marijuana in the state would generate $50 million a year in tax revenue, more than the $2.5 million prescription drug tax collected in the last financial year, according to a recent report from the department. . But one lawmaker believes the taxes collected won’t pay for recreational weed enforcement.
At a meeting of Hawaii’s Dual Use of Cannabis Task Force on Monday, state Tax Director Isaac Choy reported $2.557 million in tax revenue for medical marijuana sales, corporate income tax and employee retention. on July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022. It also said that the tax revenue from the legalization of recreational drugs would be about $50 million.
Ryan Yamane, Chair of the House Health, Human Services Committee, said on a news program that the proposed tax revenue would not be enough to cover the legal costs associated with legalizing the drug. for adults.
“$50 million is not enough to pay,” said Yamane. “So … this huge windfall is not going to be able to pay for education or health services.”
The Democratic lawmaker said the money would be difficult to fund the infrastructure needed to police the recreational drug industry across the country.
“That’s hard to use to establish a new project,” Yamane said. “Pay staff, monitor, do all the different aspects of adult entertainment, and $50 million a year.”
Cannabis Industry Controversy Forecast
But representatives of Hawaii’s prescription drug industry dispute the IRS’s estimate that the adult legalization of the drug could cost the state $50 million. Ty Cheng, chairman of the Hawaii Industry Cannabis Association and president of the Aloha Green Apothecary dispensary, said the sale of the recreational drug, which generates tax revenue, may exceed the state’s limits. .
Cheng disputed the agency’s estimates of annual recreational drug sales ranging from $200 million to $273 million because it was unclear how much money would be spent by tourists. to the islands for drugs used by adults. He predicted $400 million more in recreational weed sales, about the same amount spent on alcohol in Hawaii each year. At that rate, the taxes collected would be close to $80 million.
Cheng says there is a lot of room for growth for Hawaii’s drug industry. As of the end of September, there were 33,725 patients with valid prescription drug cards, according to the state Department of Health. And with only eight drugstores spread across the islands, the institutions have access to a small portion of all patients.
“We’re only feeding 8,000, 9,000 patients,” Cheng said. “And patient numbers have increased over the past three years, especially during the pandemic and we’ve seen double the amount since two years ago.”
Law Enforcement Investigation Task Force in Hawaii
The Drug Abuse Task Force was created last year by the state legislature and current Democratic Gov. David Ige, who opposes the legalization of recreational drugs, to investigate issues related to changing Hawaii’s marijuana policy. State lawmakers legalized the medical use of the drug in 2000, making Hawaii the first state to legalize medical marijuana through legislative action rather than the ballot box. However, prescription drug stores were not licensed until 2015.
Cheng said he hopes that after next week’s election, the new governor’s administration will show new progress on drug legalization.
“I think it’s a very good situation right now when it comes to adult drug use and President Biden’s amnesty for federal drug charges,” Cheng said.
Terilynne Gorman, a member of the task force from Maui, said that if the goal of legalizing marijuana is to generate revenue, taxes would be collected from the medicinal drug and hopefully from the drug used. adults will not live up to people’s expectations. He said the proposed tax revenue does not “seem like a big windfall for the state of Hawaii. … This is not the tax cut that people expect.
Gorman added that if the goal is to generate tax revenue for the public purse, the state lottery could make “a lot more money,” adding, “I know we’re not here. to talk about it.”
Yamane told reporters that the task force is Hawaii’s best chance to legalize the drug after years of failed attempts. He said the team is still gathering information that will be sent back to the state legislature.
“There are many places where the public can cry, demonstrate for protest or protest,” he said. “But what we wanted was to dispel some of the myths and find out what the truth is.”
With voters in five states deciding whether to legalize the drug on the ballot next week, industry leaders in Hawaii hope their state won’t be far behind.
“We all need to be open, we need to be ready for the public to provide information and information,” said Randy Gonce, executive director of the Hawaii Cannabis Industry Association. “This is the closest Hawaii has come to legalizing marijuana in our state’s history.”
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