State lawmakers are revising how much the state would earn from the taxation of recreational marijuana in the fiscal 2019 budget – nothing.
They’ve penciled in $60 million in state revenue from taxes on medical marijuana, according to Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-22nd District.
Scutari, who advocated for the recent expansion of the medical marijuana program, said the $0 revenue projected from recreational cannabis simply acknowledges that such uses is currently illegal – regardless of anyone’s future aims.
“Recreational is not in place yet, so there can’t be a score on it,” Scutari said Tuesday. “I think [the state] had originally scored recreation at a certain level, and you can’t score something on recreational for budget process until it’s in law, and it’s not a law yet.”
The $60 million is part of the $32.6 billion spending plan, backed by the Democrat-controlled Legislature, unveiled Monday afternoon in a joint Senate-Assembly press conference.