You can almost hear a Johnny Carson monologue…
“Taxes are so high in the state of California.”
“How high are they,” the audience responds with enthusiasm.
“Gov. Newsom’s taxes are so high that the family of Grateful Dead legend Jerry Garcia is moving their pot business to Michigan,” Carson quips.
Garcia’s relatives have decided to take “Garcia Hand Picked” out of California because of high taxes, black market crime, and the anti-business climate.
“We’re taking a pause in California,” a spokesperson for Garcia Hand Picked parent company Holistic Industries said. “We want to ensure California consumers have the highest quality flower for the long term, so we are choosing a new local partner for cultivation, production, sales and distribution of Garcia Hand Picked in CA.”
Garcia died in 1995 at the age of 53, he was born in San Francisco and founded the band there in the 1960s.
“This was a hard decision for them, they love California. They were born and bred here. This is very painful for them, I guarantee that.” cannabis industry expert Andrew DeAngelo said.
California continues to see the exodus of high-profile companies who are going to Republican-led states with lower taxes and safer communities.
The Garcia Hand-Picked brand of marijuana will still be sold in Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Oregon.
The state of California not only has a 15% sales tax on marijuana, but they also charge money for retail licenses which can cost $100,000 annually. And then there are taxes on growers and local taxes in addition to the state tax.
All in all, California is making more than $4 billion in tax revenue since legalizing pot.
GreenMarketReport.com has been warning the state about a “mass extinction event” for the legal pot industry of California.
“In the next 12 months, I think half the retailers are going to be in business,” said Matt Yamashita, founder of Grizzly Peak. “I think 80% of the people in business will be gone. It’s inevitable. The bubble is going to burst.”
