If you're selling it, you also have to count it as income and pay income tax as well. I don't know that it adds up to 70%, but the excise and sales taxes aren't the end of the story by a long shot if you want to be in full compliance.

The total tax where I live varies from about 27% to about 33%. The tax seems wrong sometimes based on percent alone, part of the regulation involves charging the tax amount based on the average sale price for a product. So, you may be getting a discount on your purchase but you might be paying tax on a higher price based on the average selling price. Weird to be sure.

From the linked NPR article:

> The inconsistency between state and federal law is causing enormous problems in the cannabis industry everywhere. [...] And almost more significantly, you end up having to pay a 70% effective tax rate because you're not able to take deductions on your federal taxes. So most businesses might pay 35%. You're paying 70%. That can be a huge cost for a small business.

Certainly unreasonable to attribute all of the 70% tax rate to California's "unchecked greed".