Free Republic

When California made pot legal, the theory was that pot had become such a normalized part of California culture that it should be treated like alcohol: Adults should be able to buy and use it legally subject to restrictions. However, California also decided to turn pot into a profit center...for California. Therefore, it imposes a cultivation tax on growers as well as a 15% excise tax rate on consumers for any legal pot purchases. California also controls the allowed mark-up rate, which stands at 80%. With the state having imposed these stringent price controls on legal marijuana, is it any...

Among the more than a dozen smash-and-grab robberies in the Bay Area in recent weeks, cannabis facilities may have been the hardest hit. In San Francisco, at least four cannabis businesses have been robbed in the last two weeks, according to news reports. At least 20 have been hit in Oakland, where most of the Bay Area’s cannabis cultivation, manufacturing and distribution facilities are located. “It’s proving to be unbearable for cannabis operators,” said Amber Senter at an Oakland press conference held by cannabis business owners on Monday. Senter owns multiple cannabis business licenses in San Francisco and Oakland, and...