Pot for potholes, or a hit to equity? Advocates push back скачать в хорошем качестве

Pot for potholes, or a hit to equity? Advocates push back

Michigan’s cannabis industry has become one of the largest in the nation. Last year alone, people here bought over $3 billion worth of legal weed, second only to California (https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com...) . Now, the state wants to take that success and pave roads with it. State lawmakers just passed a new 24 percent wholesale tax in the state budget (https://zeus-milenia.legislature.mi.g...) , set to begin in January. It will raise an estimated $420 million a year for transportation projects. Supporters call it smart budgeting, “pot for potholes.” But others see a troubling shift: a young industry, still finding its footing, being asked to carry the weight of Michigan’s infrastructure. The Michigan Cannabis Industry Association (https://micia.org/) is taking the debate to court. It has filed a complaint arguing the new wholesale tax unlawfully alters a voter-initiated cannabis law under the state constitution. There is also a deeper tension. For decades, Black people in Michigan were nearly four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white people (https://graphics.aclu.org/marijuana-a...) . When voters approved the legalization of recreational cannabis in 2018, it came with a promise: that the people most harmed by prohibition would share in the new prosperity (https://www.michigan.gov/cra/sections...) . This new tax could test that promise if higher costs push small, Black- and brown-owned businesses out of the market. So today, The Metro explores these tensions and concerns through the perspective of people in the cannabis industry. First, we hear from Jamie Lowell, a longtime cannabis advocate. He’ll help us step back: how does Michigan’s market compare with other states? Then we turn to Al Williams, owner of DaCut dispensaries, and president of the Detroit Cannabis Industry Association.