“We cannot balance state budgets on the backs of one industry. Excessive taxation drives consumers back to the illicit market and shrinks the legal one.”
By Katherine Dailey, Michigan Advance
Genesee County Sheriff and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Swanson came out strongly in opposition to the 24 percent cannabis tax passed as a part of the Fiscal Year 2026 budget to pay for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) plan to fund road repairs statewide.
In a video posted to Facebook on Friday evening, Swanson promised that, if elected, he would work to repeal the tax saying that it is “not fair and equitable” to an industry that provides goods and services, as well as jobs, for the state of Michigan.
Swanson’s campaign added in a press release that the tax “undermines both the legal market and the intent of voter-approved legalization,” citing the 2018 ballot initiative vote that legalized cannabis in the state of Michigan.
“As Governor, I will work to roll back the 24 percent wholesale excise tax to ensure fairness and equity,” he continued in the press release. “We cannot balance state budgets on the backs of one industry. Excessive taxation drives consumers back to the illicit market and shrinks the legal one.”
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