rewrite this title and make it good for SEOMaine hikes marijuana tax 40%; consumption lounge bill stalls

Maine’s adult-use marijuana tax will increase from 10% to 14% starting Jan. 1 under the $11.3 billion state budget Gov. Janet Mills signed into law this week.

That’s up from the 10% current special levy applied to cannabis – an increase of 40% – and is in line with the highest marijuana sales taxes in New England, according to the Tax Foundation.

Vermont also applies a 14% sales tax on recreational marijuana, according to the Tax Foundation, and Massachusetts’ adult-use sales tax is 10.75%.

Maine was staring down a projected $450 million deficit over the next two years.

In a statement, Mills said the Maine budget was the “product of various tradeoffs and compromises” amid significant uncertainty in the economy and from the federal government.

Other states are also mulling increases in marijuana taxes to offset gaping deficits.

Those include California, where lawmakers on Friday were still negotiating over a possible freeze in the state’s cannabis excise tax.

Separately, Maine’s Legislature adjourned Wednesday without taking action on a bill that would have legalized consumption lounges in the state, the Maine Morning Star reported.

Though many entrepreneurs question cannabis consumption lounges’ business model and the opportunity for profitability, Maine advocates called legalizing them in the state a “no-brainer” that would be “beneficial to all parties,” according to the Maine Wire.

Under House Bill 1365, consumption lounges would have been available to licensed marijuana stores provided the local jurisdiction also passed a law allowing them.

Mills’ budget also reduced other cannabis taxes, though it remains to be seen how the decrease might affect retail pricing.

According to the Maine Wire:

A per-pound wholesale tax on cannabis flower was reduced from $335 per pound to $223.
A per-pound tax on cannabis trim was cut from $94 to $63.

The budget also cut per-unit taxes on plants, clones and seeds from:

$35 to $23 for mature plants.
$1.50 to $1 for clones or seedlings.
30 cents to 20 cents for seeds.