[ad_1]
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The legal marijuana industry has called Monday the Los Angeles mayor to be tougher with illegal stores that threaten their businesses from all sides.
Illegal pottery is widespread in Los Angeles and generally resembles reality. And they are booming – they sell cheaper products than their legal rivals because they do not charge local taxes and heavy taxes.
In a letter on Monday, the Southern California group Southern California Coalition recommended that the city seize cannabis stocks and cash in illegal stores that sell contaminated products.
In the legal market, marijuana, concentrates, cookies and other products must be tested by independent laboratories for consumer safety – a requirement that illegal stores can ignore.
The group said that the inability to seize money and marijuana products in illegal stores after house searches allowed the company to reopen quickly.
In the absence of guarantees on testing in the illegal market, "there is a high probability that cannabis products in these stores are contaminated," the group wrote.
They urged the city "in the strongest possible terms to continue testing cannabis … in unlicensed stores".
California's efforts to transform its long-standing illicit and medicinal markets into a unified, multi-billion dollar industry began last year. But the transition has been uneven and it will probably take years for the legal market to find its foundation.
Many communities prohibit the sale and growth of marijuana, leaving residents of these places without access to legal stores. Businesses complain about high tax rates of up to 50% in some communities, which they believe would push consumers into the illicit market tax-free. The battle over home deliveries is under way and no promised tax deal has arrived.
Legal marijuana has had problems in other states. In Nevada, lawsuits are pending after some companies have accused the state licensing system of being unfair. In Oregon last year, an excess of marijuana in the supply chain prompted regulators to suspend the processing of new marijuana license applications.
In Los Angeles, the industry group said that many legal stores are threatened with bankruptcy because they are surrounded by rogue stores that hurt them.
Due to taxes and high regulatory fees, legal operators "can not compete with illegal operators," the group said.
The group also recommended that dishonest shopkeepers be paid to deter them from returning, and to ensure that building inspectors always accompany the police in raids to close down dangerous structures. They also suggested that the city consider placing tax liens on illegal stores.
[ad_2]
Source link