BOSTON — Massachusetts legislators on the Marijuana Policy Committee are proposing a bill that would more than double the tax rate approved by voters in the state last fall.
The ballot initiative as approved by voters limited the tax rate to 12 percent, but lawmakers are proposing a 28 percent tax, set to include state sales tax, excise tax, and a 5 percent tax that would be returned to the community where the marijuana was sold.
[ Read the full proposed bill here ]
The bill would also create a Cannabis Control Commission to provide oversight for recreational marijuana sales in the state.
Another key change in the committee proposal would allow city councils or town boards of selectmen to ban the sale of marijuana, as opposed to the ballot measure that required town voters to approve bans.