UC Berkeley students notoriously smoke weed, perhaps no better exemplified than on the annual April 20 smoke session on Memorial Glade. When some campus students were asked to comment on Gov. Gavin Newsom reversing a 25% tax increase that had been placed on the legal cannabis market in California, it was not a surprise that many were supportive of the legislation.

On Monday, Newsom’s office announced the passing of AB 564, which eliminated a 25% tax increase that would have seen the excise tax on the California cannabis industry raised from 15% to 19%. Under the new legislation, the excise tax on legal cannabis will remain at 15% until 2028.

“I think the tax is silly,” said campus junior Samantha Cannard. “People are still going to smoke weed, except they’re just going to get it from different places. I think that it’s great that he’s lowering it — the taxes are already so high.”

Newsom’s announcement included comments from California State Assemblymember Matt Haney of San Francisco, who wrote the bill, in which he said California’s legal cannabis market can bring “enormous” economic benefits to the state, but only if it is able to compete with the illegal market.

According to the memo, the tax reversal was made to support the industry’s long-term growth, which helps fund many social programs in the education, public health and environmental protection sectors. 

“It totally would help with people going to legal sites to buy weed, so it’s even safer and more controlled,” said campus senior Hector Romero. “I think (the tax) could incline people to smoke if one of their main factors would be cost.”

However, with the elimination of this tax increase, California is expected to see a reduction in funding collected per year, which would then have to be covered by the state’s general fund.

According to campus junior Kathleen McLoughlin, lost revenue from the decrease in the weed tax may offer an opportunity to explore different revenue streams to support those programs that may lose a funding source.

“We could just tax billionaires, or maybe corporations or alcohol, which arguably I think has a greater negative impact on California families,” McLoughlin said.

Newsom’s administration also stated that it has increased efforts to combat “illegal operators” through the use of cannabis tax revenue to fund enforcement activities, which it hopes will reduce the burden on legal cannabis businesses.

It also announced that the Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce, which Newsom created in 2022, has seized and destroyed more than 635,000 pounds of illegal cannabis that have been estimated at a retail value of $890 million.

“If people can’t afford weed that’s legal and regulated, they’re going to turn to … cheaper stuff, which also is usually off market,” McLoughlin said. “It’s dangerous; you don’t know what’s in it … It’s not like people are going to stop smoking weed and drinking alcohol when they’re underage, so it’s kind of like a harm reduction thing.”