Insightful commentary below on SEEF tax by Spencer Belz. I'm curious to hear others' thoughts on the SEEF tax (and the current cannabis tax structure in Jersey, in general) as NJ-CRC revisits, at some point, raising the tax.
I think everyone is on board with the concepts and principles behind raising the SEEF tax. We want to reinvest cannabis into the communities that were most affected by its criminalization. But I would encourage the ACLU and other organizations to come learn about what they're pushing for. The operators that the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission drafted their laws to uplift and get into the industry, are those who will suffer THE most from a jump in tax like this. Minority owners cannot afford this $28+ increase. The laws were written to grow and change with the market. NJ is not a mature market. We are not stable. We cannot afford this drastic of a change. Basing the tax on the 'usable cannabis' ounce average is also horrifically flawed: Trim: $150 Gummies: $300 Vapes (0.5g): $400 Flower: $500 A weighted or modal average would be far more applicable here, as the more expensive items like flower and vapes sell at far higher volumes than trim, pre-ground, and edibles. The state average isn't truly $330 relative to the average customer, nor to the average retailer. These tax increases will not be absorbed by suppliers (cultivators/manufacturers), they will be passed to the retailers who will pass to the consumers. Understand the financial impact this drastic of a change would have on the consumer: Flower (8th) - Current: $60 - SEEF Increase: $68 Gummies: - Current: $32 - SEEF Increase: $38 Vapes (0.5g): - Current: $50 - SEEF Increase: $57.50 The ENTIRE point of legalizing cannabis, developing the CRC, and licensing operators is to offer safe, regulated cannabis for consumers to purchase legally. We want to drive the traditional/legacy market into the legal market. Instead, this increase would drive the majority of customers back to the streets to purchase. Again, we all want those impacted by the war on drugs to be supported properly. We cannot destroy everything we've spent the last 3 years creating to make it happen by some deadline or numbers that are terribly outdated. Good old New Jersey, ladies and gentlemen.