Culture
An LA mayoral hopeful wants weed cafes open before the 2028 Olympics and a much lighter tax
Councilmember Nithya Raman would swap the flat 10 percent tax for a 0.25 to 6 percent sliding scale and pilot consumption cafes.
By The Crushed Desk · 5d ago · 4 min read
Photo: The Marijuana Herald
Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman, who is challenging Mayor Karen Bass, released a cannabis plan that would replace the city's flat 10 percent gross-receipts tax with a temporary tiered rate of 0.25 to 6 percent for two years. The smallest businesses, under $500,000 in revenue, would get the biggest cuts.
Her campaign says licensed operators face about a 35 percent combined tax burden, with nearly 80 percent behind on local taxes and roughly $400 million owed collectively.
She would also pilot cannabis cafe licenses before the 2028 Olympics, create an enforcement task force, delist unlicensed shops from Google Maps, Weedmaps and Yelp, and fine property owners up to $20,000 a day. Equity applicants would get case managers and bridge financing.
This is a campaign platform, not policy. But it reflects a real tension: legal shops are struggling under taxes while illicit ones thrive, and consumption lounges are becoming a mainstream pitch.
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