“Prop 64 did that… Big corporations started buying up small family farms, thinking they could grow better… Maybe some of those smaller family farms can come back.”
California Treasurer Fiona Ma didn’t stop at calling the state’s legalization framework a failure. In Part 1 of our coverage from IgniteIt’s Market Spotlight: California, she broke down enforcement gaps, banking barriers, and the need for federal descheduling. In this follow-up, Ma went deeper, explaining why she believes California must start over and how the state can rebuild a fairer market for cultivators, consumers, and taxpayers alike.
‘We have to start all over’
Asked whether the system could self-correct, Ma said California veered off course from the beginning. “We had models out there… we started saying, ‘Let’s follow the alcohol model.’ But then they went in a different direction. I think we have to just start all over.”
She pointed to the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) structure, strict but functional, as a better template than the patchwork of taxes and local rules that define California cannabis today.
The cash-only contradiction
Before SAFE Banking was even a talking point, Ma sat on the Board of Equalization collecting cannabis taxes in cash. “Two members didn’t like cannabis and wouldn’t take taxes in their offices. So only George Runner and myself would accept the cannabis taxes… You need to be able to go someplace to pay it.”
She recalled duffel bags full of bills, slow cash counters, and safety worries for staff. “We need to get with the times, credit cards, online transfers, so that selfishly we can audit you guys. We can’t audit you when you’re all in cash.” The room laughed, but the message hit: without modern banking, accountability is impossible.
Taxes, reform, and a possible redo of …
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Author: Javier Hasse / High Times
