As the Garden State looks to legalize cannabis, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has two priorities: a greater bite of revenue for municipalities and social justice.
In a recent interview with NJ Cannabis Insider, Baraka shared his thoughts on what he believes is necessary to get larger cities on board.
"Big cities, where most of the money is going to be generated, ought to get a significant piece of that (tax revenue) -- to be able to create an infrastructure to manage and monitor the sale of cannabis in our cities, as well as other things we think are necessary, whether it's education or giving our people the opportunity to participate in the cannabis industry," Baraka said. "The state and their revenue should able to give some to the cities."
The sticking point between the most recent version of the proposed adult-use bill provides for municipalities to impose a two percent excise tax on cannabis sales and receive one percent of tax revenue generated by sales in their town. Larger cities like Newark, Jersey City and Hoboken, however, have said they're looking for five percent of gross tax revenue and an excise tax.