Source: SFGate
“California’s pot industry could be on the verge of an ‘extinction event,’ with pot shops going out of business as they miss tax payments and sink under millions of dollars of debt. Debt problems have plagued the industry for years — a 2022 report estimated that the industry was collectively sitting on over $600 million in debt — but a change in tax law that took effect this year has stakeholders worried the mounting debt bubble will finally become fatal. A San Francisco politician introduced a law this year in the state legislature that would crack down on pot businesses that don’t pay their debts. State law recently shifted the burden for paying cannabis excise taxes from distributors to retailers, with the first tax payments due May 1.” (05/18/23)
https://www.sfgate.com/cannabis/article/california-pot-industry-facing-extinction-event-18104578.php