Legalize it. Then kill it with taxes.

The once-promising local cannabis business in California is reeling as the state increases business taxes on legal marijuana, creating incentives for (again) a thriving black market. The AP reports.

"California is increasing business tax rates on legal marijuana, a move that stunned struggling companies that have been pleading with the state to do just the opposite.

"Hefty marijuana taxes that can approach 50% have been blamed for pushing shoppers into Califronia's tax-free illegal market, which is thriving. Industry analysts estimate that $3 are spent in the illegal market for every $1 in the legal one.

'Widening the price gap between illicit and regulated products will further drive consumers to the illicit market at a time when illicit products are demonstrably putting people's lives at risk,'  said the California Cannabis Industry Association.

'This short-sighted move ignores the realities that licensed businesses are at the breaking point with many struggling to survive,' said California Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Oakland).

Read the whole thing here.

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