Some Calif. cos. call for tax relief

Following a spate of pot shop robberies in Oakland, the women’s equity group Supernova Women held a press conference Monday calling for state and local tax relief for impacted businesses. 

• The group argued lower taxes will better enable businesses to take security measures.  
• Kristi Palmer, co-founder of edibles brand Kiva Confections also spoke according to a press release. 
• San Francisco police didn’t act as they watched a dispensary robbery, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The Oakland push comes amid growing frustration throughout the California industry. In response to the state raising cultivation taxes Michael Steinmetz, CEO of sun-grown brand Flow Cannabis Co. threatened not to pay.

• “California’s entire cannabis supply chain is quickly becoming an ICU of distressed assets… circled and surrounded by publicly traded MSOs,” he and his wife Flavia Cassini wrote on Medium.
• He also called for a three-year holiday from the state excise tax and the end of local control of the industry.

Related: In September, Catalyst Cannabis sued California for failing to enforce protocols which buoy the illegal market.
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