Wood, McGuire state bills to regulate medical pot advance with bipartisan support

Bills from North Coast lawmakers to tax and regulate medical marijuana advanced this week in the state capitol with bipartisan support in the Legislature.

Two proposals - tax measures from state Sen. Mike McGuire and Assemblyman Jim Wood, both Healdsburg Democrats - won the required two-thirds majorities in their respective houses and move on for further consideration.

McGuire’s bill, SB 987, would place a 15 percent sales tax on medical cannabis. It would come in addition to an existing 8 percent tax and is expected to generate more than $100 million. About a third of the money would go to cities and counties for costs associated with medical pot.

Wood’s bill, AB 2243, would place a $9.25 per ounce excise tax on flowers or buds, a $2.75 per ounce tax on leaves and a $1.25 tax on immature plants from nurseries. It is expected to raise $80 million annually for local police, environmental cleanup and tax relief for private landowners who keep their property undeveloped.

A second bill from Wood passed in the Assembly this week would create a new cultivator license for micro-farmers with growing operations smaller than 2,500 square feet. Under current law, small-yield pot growers are lumped in with larger producers.

“It’s a tremendous achievement for either author to get Republican support for their tax,” said Paul Ramey, Wood’s spokesman. “That can’t be overstated.”

Some marijuana activists oppose Wood’s taxes as unreasonably high, saying the flower tax alone would be 10 percent of marijuana’s value.

All the proposed legislation applies to medical marijuana only. It would go away if voters in November approve a ballot initiative legalizing pot for recreational use, Ramey said.

A study released in April by the California Public Policy Institute said 55 percent of likely voters support legal recreational marijuana, up from 49 percent five years ago. An unsuccessful 2010 ballot measure received only 46 percent of the vote.

Barring broader legalization, the McGuire and Wood proposals would help form the statewide regulatory framework for continued cultivation and sale of medical marijuana.

Wood is also co-author of a bill that would refine AB 1575, the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act. That bill would clarify licensing and regulation of medical pot.

Law enforcement expressed support for Wood’s tax bill, which would help pay for costs associated with growing marijuana.

“As chief of a city greatly impacted by cannabis, I appreciate Assemblyman Wood moving this bill forward to get those communities hit hardest by illegal cannabis cultivation the help we need,” Eureka police Chief Andrew Mills said in a written statement from Wood.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ppayne.