Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has brought forth his most detailed proposal yet for Canada’s impending recreational cannabis market, proposing a tax of one dollar a gram on adult-use cannabis when once recreational sales begin in the summer of 2018.
The proposal—announced yesterday at a press conference in Ottawa— specifies a dollar-a-gram excise tax on cannabis sold for $10 a gram or less. Cannabis products priced higher than $10 a gram would be subject to a 10% tax. As for how the revenue would be split up, Trudeau said the federal government would split the tax revenue 50-50 with provincial governments.
“Nobody’s mindset on this approach is about bringing in tax revenue,” Trudeau said, specifying that the main point is to defeat the black market and keep everyone safe from illicit dealers.
Trudeau added that from the beginning, the whole legalization movement came from a public health and safety standpoint, with the PM repeatedly citing the need for a system that will protect “our kids.”
Next up: A December meeting of federal finance ministers to discuss the taxation of cannabis.
Stay tuned, and for now, here’s full video of Trudeau’s announcement.
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Gage Peake is a former staff writer for Leafly, where he specialized in data journalism, sports, and breaking news coverage. He's a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's College of Journalism and Mass Communications.
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