Medical cannabis: taxation: cannabis production and environment mitigation.

The Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act, administered by the director of the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation, provides for the licensure of persons engaged in specified activities relating to medical cannabis, including cultivation and distribution. The Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, provides procedures for the collection of certain fees and surcharges. This bill would, for the privilege of doing business as a distributor in this state, impose a tax in specified amounts on every distributor upon all medical cannabis and medical cannabis products distributed to a dispensary in this state, as specified. The bill would require the State Board of Equalization to administer and collect the tax pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Fee Collection Procedures Law. The bill would require a distributor to register for a permit with the board and would allow the board to suspend or revoke a permit. The bill would authorize the board to prescribe by regulation a method and manner for payment of the tax that utilizes tax stamps or state-issued product bags. The bill would require all moneys, less refunds and costs of administration, to be deposited into the Cannabis Production and Environment Mitigation Fund, which this bill would establish in the State Treasury. This bill would continuously appropriate the moneys in that fund in specified percentages to, among other things, fund competitive grants for local law enforcement-related activities pertaining to illegal cannabis cultivation; to fund environmental cleanup restoration and protection of public and private lands that have been damaged by illegal cannabis cultivation; to address the environmental impacts of cannabis cultivation on public and private lands in California and fund other state enforcement-related activities pertaining to illegal cannabis cultivation; and to fund Regional Marijuana Enforcement Officers. This bill, except as provided, would become inoperative on January 1, 2018, if Proposition 64, also known as the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act, is approved by the voters at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election and takes effect. This bill would repeal all of its provisions as of January 1, 2025. By expanding the application of the Fee Collection Procedures Law, which imposes criminal penalties for various acts, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.