Ariz. to Tax Medical Marijuana

Arizona will soon be collecting sales taxes on medical marijuana, the Associated Press reported Jan. 27.

The state became the 15th in the nation to approve medical marijuana last November, when a measure was passed by voters. The new sales tax will total 6.6 percent for the state, and two to three percent for cities.

Only 124 dispensaries will be licensed in the state, but each one will have to get a sales tax license like other businesses do, said Anthony Forschino, who is the assistant director of the Arizona Department of Revenue.

The state estimates it will collect about $40 million a year by taxing sales of medical marijuana. Arizona’s attorney general, Tom Horne, said that even though the marijuana is meant to help patients with serious medical conditions, it should still be taxed.

“You go to the store, you buy things that are hopefully 100 percent beneficial, and it gets taxed because it’s a revenue source,” he said. “This is no different than anything else.”

Final rules will be set for the state’s medical marijuana dispensaries in March.