Seemingly, this is what should have happened initially when the legalization of medicinal marijuana was first passed, but the small agricultural town of Fruita, CO took the first step and is now taxing pot and all paraphernalia. They expect to raise a good deal of money by doing so, and hopefully, other cities follow suit.
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Voters in the western Colorado town of Fruita on Tuesday approved a 5 percent sales tax on medical marijuana and related paraphernalia, making it the first city in Colorado to tax pot.
Fruita ― an agricultural community located west of Grand Junction near the Utah border ― doesn't yet have any medical marijuana dispensaries, which have proliferated in Denver over the past year.
The tax will go into effect on May 1. City officials expect it to raise about $100,000 in the first full fiscal year, despite the current lack of dispensaries, according to the ballot issue.
Nearly 60 percent of Fruita voters approved the tax, according to unofficial election results posted on the Fruita municipal website.
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers ruled last November that a sales tax could be imposed on medical pot.
“Colorado law is clear: Medical marijuana, in most instances, should be subject to state and local sales taxes,” Suthers said. “This formal opinion should help clear up many of the uncertainties surrounding the taxation of medical marijuana.”