During his budget address last week, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said he wants to raise the special tax on cannabis from $2.50 an ounce to $15 an ounce to fund violence intervention and social service programs, the New Jersey Monitor reports. The proposal comes about two months after the state Cannabis Regulator Commission raised the tax from $1.24 an ounce to the $2.50 rate. 

The tax – a social equity excise fee – is paid by cultivators and is used to fund social equity programs and investing in communities hurt by cannabis prohibition; another portion is used to fund programs to divert youth from cannabis use. As of August 2024, the tax had brought in more than $6 million but it remains unspent. Raising the tax would raise an additional $70 million in revenue, according to the governor’s budget plan.

Murphy’s proposal would also extend the tax to include intoxicating hemp products like delta-8 and delta-10 THC products. 

Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D) opposes the plan, noting that legal dispensaries in New Jersey already have a hard time competing with the illegal market. According to Oxford Treatment Center data, the average price for an ounce of cannabis from a licensed seller in the state is about $321.50. 

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