ROLL IT DOWN

City Affairs: A plan to impose city taxes on marijuana goes too far
in capitalizing on tantalizing potential streams of tax revenue.

This November, a ballot measure to legalize, tax and regulate
marijuana will come before California's voters. If passed, adults
statewide will be able to legally roll up a joint and smoke it for
recreational purposes. Berkeley's reputation for being a haven for
marijuana consumers could become one the rest of the state would share.

Politicians, eager to find the new revenue streams needed to
maintain services in this economic climate, are quickly exploring
ways to turn marijuana into easy tax money for their respective
jurisdictions. We certainly cannot fault them for this.

However, we are concerned about Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates' plan to
impose a 2.5 percent city tax on medicinal marijuana and a 10
percent city tax on recreational marijuana, if it is legalized in November.

Medicinal marijuana, legalized statewide by Proposition 215, is
already subject to a state sales tax. This is in contrast to
conventional prescription drugs, an inconsistency which we find
troubling. A 2.5 percent tax is higher than Oakland's 1.8 percent
tax level, a reduction to which would be a reasonable compromise.

Moreover, Mayor Bates' proposal for a 10 percent recreational
marijuana tax is excessive. Part of the rationale for legalizing
marijuana is to reduce the violent drug cartel crime associated with
the illegal trafficking of the product.

However, Bates' proposed tax, when combined with state sales and
excise taxes, threatens to make the cost of the legal product high
enough to allow the drug cartels to maintain their stake in the
trade. A lower tax, for the narrower purpose of funding the
regulation of the legalized product, would be a much more reasonable
idea. Of course, it would make sense for the recreational marijuana
tax to exceed the medicinal cannabis tax.

While we have not yet decided whether to support legalizing
marijuana, we recognize the tax revenue it would bring is one of the
most attractive benefits of the idea. However, we urge politicians
to proceed here with caution and restraint.