A cannabis industry trade association is asking the Michigan Court of Appeals to block the 24% wholesale cannabis tax from taking effect on January 1, Michigan Public Radio reports. In the appeal, the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association (MICIA) contends that lawmakers violated the state constitution by failing to pass the bill with the three-fourths House and Senate supermajorities required by the Michigan Constitution to alter a voter-approved initiative. 

The organization had levied the same argument to the state’s Court of Claims, which ultimately rejected it and upheld the tax.  

MICIA spokesperson Rose Tantraphol told Michigan Public that the stakes in the challenge “are incredibly high.”   

“Cannabis businesses operate on thin margins. If this goes into effect on New Year’s Day, businesses will close. Our neighbors who work in the cannabis industry will lose their jobs.” — Tantraphol to Michigan Public 

The state contends that the tax was passed lawfully as part of a road-funding plan that does not alter the language of the voter-approved 2018 adult-use cannabis law. The tax was approved by lawmakers in October and is expected to generate $420 million annually. 

The voter-approved law only included a 10% excise tax on retail sales. 

Article HERE.