Alaska: New bill would tax illegal marijuana grows in effort to combat black market
Unlicensed marijuana growers who are discovered with more cannabis than allowed under personal grow laws may find themselves subject to both criminal and tax penalties, should a bill circulating the Alaska Legislature be signed into law.
House Bill 337, sponsored by Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, R-Anchorage, seeks to give the state Department of Revenue's Tax Division more enforcement power.
“It’s going to help the legitimate marijuana industry get off the ground,” LeDoux said of the bill Saturday. “That’s my purpose.”
The bill has three different mechanisms for enhancing tax enforcement of marijuana grows.
First, the bill would require that licensed growers pay a $5,000 cash or surety bond to the Tax Division. That money would be forfeited to the state should the grower fail to pay its commercial grow taxes.
The requirement is in line with what’s required from the alcohol industry, except it's one-fifth the cost, said Ken Alper, director of...
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