Unfriendly banks, high taxes and black-market competitors are some of the obstacles that licensed cannabis companies say hold them back as they try to cultivate a new industry in California.

Some California lawmakers want to give them a hand, and they’re considering a set of bills that would in ways great and small fine tune the law governing recreational marijuana.

“We’re all in this for the long haul,” Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda, said at a press conference Monday. “It’s incumbent on us to continue to monitor what’s happening and course correct if necessary.”

Some of the bills aim to give cannabis businesses the same opportunities as others — such as access to state tax deductions or the ability to bank — while others look to provide relief to legitimate businesses locked in a losing battle with the black market.

The latter is what Bonta and other lawmakers gathered to address at Monday’s press conference announcing Assembly Bill 286.

FIXING ‘AN UNEVEN PLAYING FIELD’

Bonta and other lawmakers drafted AB 286 to give licensed cannabis growers a better shot at competing with black market dealers by lowering taxes. [Read more at The Sacramento Bee]