In an attempt to improve the landscape of the cannabis industry in San Francisco, county supervisors unanimously approved an ordinance to suspend the city’s Cannabis Business Tax through the end of next year. The development is part of a strategy to curb illegal cannabis sales and we are favorable on the potential positive impact this could have on licensed operators. 

The goal of the decision to suspend city business taxes on licensed cannabis operators is to present a set of recommendations for cannabis retailers to the Board of Supervisors and implement a new plan for 2023.

California is the largest cannabis market in the world and several high-profile multi-state operators (MSOs) are focused on San Francisco’s cannabis market. We are favorable on the long-term opportunity that is associated with California’s cannabis market and are glad to see that country officials are trying to support the industry.

Although San Francisco’s cannabis industry should benefit from the decision to suspend city business taxes, many cannabis retailers are being impacted by a series of robberies in the bay area. Going forward, we will monitor how the city is able to protect retailers that are being impacted by crime waves and consider this situation to be a headwind for growth. 

2022 is expected to be a banner year for the US cannabis industry and California is forecasted to play a crucial role in the growth of it. We will monitor how leading US cannabis operators deal with some of the issues in San Francisco and expect the market to serve as a core growth driver in 2022 and beyond.