MARYLAND – The new budget enacted by Maryland Governor Wes Moore will increase taxes on adult use cannabis.

Under Governor Moore’s budget, taxes on adult use cannabis will increase from 9% to 12%.

“Anytime you hear of a tax increase, something that’s going to be passed on to our customers or our potential customers knowing they are going to have to pay more, it’s certainly not something that benefits them, therefore it’s something that isn’t going to benefit us, it’s not something we’re looking forward to,” said Chris Weimer, Kindequity LLC General Manager.

Dispensary managers in Maryland are sounding the alarm about a tax increase on adult use cannabis.

Weimer said the new taxes may cause consumers to look elsewhere.

“Anytime you’re going to increase the cost to consumers in this case with a 9% to a 12% tax increase, our question is are you incentivizing those consumers who have the opportunity to purchase safe, legal, highly regulated and highly tested cannabis, are you incentivizing them to seek alternate options, i.e. the black market,” he said.

Ian Chenkin with Hi Tide Dispensary in Ocean City agrees that the new tax may cause customers to look for other means, including cannabis on the black market.

“We’re really focused and worried about our customers and the fact that the tax is going to increase again, is it going to spin back to the medical are they going to spin over to the black market, those are my concerns,” said Chenkin.

Chenkin said they are going to take a different approach to get their customers the cannabis they need.

“We are going to encourage our customers and employees to help them get their medical card because the medical card will alleviate that tax burden altogether and will help them get what they need without having to incur that tax increase from 9 to 12%,” he said.

A majority of the money raised from the increased tax will go back to addressing the state’s budget deficit.

Kindequity LLC has begun construction on their dispensary.

They’re looking to open in the fall or winter of this year.