Plan for tax on medical marijuana draws ire of patients, producer

OTTAWA — The federal government’s proposed plan to impose an excise tax on medical marijuana as well as recreational cannabis has left patient advocate groups and Canadian licensed cannabis producers fuming.

Canadians for Fair Access to Medical Marijuana (CFAMM) and the Arthritis Society said in a joint statement Friday medical pot should be treated the same way as most other prescription medications and applying the excise tax to medical cannabis unfairly disadvantages patients.

“The use of medical cannabis should be recognized in line with all other prescription medications and accordingly exempt from taxation,” said Jonathan Zaid, the founder and executive director of CFAMM.

“Patients have a fundamental right to have access to affordable medicine.”

Ottawa unveiled its federal tax proposal on Friday in preparation for the July 2018 deadline for the legalization of recreational marijuana in Canada, which will be up for public consultation until Dec. 7.

This plan would add an excise tax of $1 per gram of marijuana or 10 per cent of the final retail price, whichever is higher.

The revenues will be split equally between Ottawa and the provinces and territories.

Bill Blair, parliamentary secretary to the minister of justice and the Liberal lead on the legal pot program, also said the government’s task force report recommended the tax regime on medical and recreational marijuana be the same.

“Our government remains committed to maintaining a functional medical marijuana system and at the same time, we do not want the taxation levels to be an incentive for people to utilize that system inappropriately and so we propose that the taxation levels for both nonmedical and medical will be aligned,” Blair said.

However, Cam Battley, executive vice-president of licensed producer Aurora Cannabis Inc., said sick people do not need the additional cost burden and applying the tax to medical marijuana is “outrageous” and “wrong.”