Not Wanting to Harsh Portlanders' Buzz, Amanda Fritz Wants 3% Tax for Pot Sales

The City Council on Wednesday will consider a request from Commissioner Amanda Fritz to refer to voters a 3% tax on recreational marijuana sales.

The measure, which would appear on the November ballot, would be on top of what will be a 17% state-imposed tax base that goes into effect on January 1, 2017.

“This total tax would be significantly less than Washington’s state excise tax of 37% and Colorado’s levy of 27.9%," says Fritz.

Fritz says that the money raised by the tax would go to things like public safety, support for innovative neighborhood small businesses, and drug and alcohol treatment and education programs.

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In more detail, Fritz says the money would go to:

• Drug and alcohol education and treatment programs, including but not limited to services that increase access to these programs and programs that support rehabilitation and employment readiness
• Public safety investments to reduce impacts of drug and alcohol abuse such as police DUII training and enforcement, support for firefighter paramedics, street infrastructure projects that improve safety, and other initiatives to reduce the impacts of drug and alcohol abuse
• Support for innovative neighborhood small businesses, especially women-owned and minority-owned businesses, including but not limited to business incubator programs, management training, and job training opportunities; and providing economic opportunity and education to communities disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition

Jesse Horton, a Portland-baed dispensary owner and the founder of the Minority Cannabis Business Association, likes the idea of some of the revenue going to small businesses for things like job training.

“Achieving tangible economic and social improvements ensures that everyone in this city is positively impacted by this industry, including those most negatively affected by past marijuana prohibition," says Horton.

If approved by the council, it will go on the ballot November 8th.