Legislation to make medical marijuana tax-free was filed today in the Maine Legislature.
House Bill 544 was filed by State Representatives Ann Fredericks (R), Rachel Henderson (R), and Craig Hickman (D). It’s been referred to the House Taxation Committee.
Under current law, recreational marijuana sales are taxed at 10%, with an additional 8% excise tax applied to infused products. Medical marijuana is taxed at a lower rate of 5.5%. House Bill 544 would remove the 5.5% tax rate for patients, instead allowing them to purchase their medicine completely tax-free.
Maine voters approved recreational marijuana in 2016, with the first retail outlets opening in 2020. The state legalized medical marijuana in 1999, just three years after California became the first to do so. However, the first dispensary didn’t open until 2011, the year before Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize recreational marijuana.
According to data released last week by the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy, there was $19.1 million in legal marijuana sold in January, spread across 369,788 transactions.
