With the marijuana industry taking off, everybody involved is trying to make an extra buck. Oregon Health Authorities held a meeting Monday to announce a possible fee increase to medical marijuana growers, according to The Oregonian.
Each caretaker will have to pay a $200 annual fee, increasing the state’s marijuana tax revenues by an estimated of around $4 million. This cost is only applied to those who grow the drug for commercial use. Medical cardholders who grow their own supply at home will be exempt from the fee.
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“It looks like they are treating the program as a cash cow and trying to extract as much money from patients as they can,” said Cedar Grey, a cannabis grower in Williams.
The agency also proposed a second measure to charge marijuana processors a $4000 dollar annual fee. These fees are to help soften the transition into a more popular recreational weed market.
The agency predicts that around 40 percent of dispensaries in Oregon will convert to recreational dispensaries. Grey plans to work in the medical and recreational fields simultaneously. With that said, he will pay close to $14,000 each year in fees to continue processing concentrates and selling them to both markets.
Most of this cash goes to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which manages the state’s recreational cannabis market. To read more about the possible fee increase, check out the full article.
