A newly released study finds that legalizing marijuana could be a huge economic boon in Australia.
ABC Radio Perth Report The study, which comes via the University of Western Australia, found that legalizing cannabis could bring in $243.5 million annually in the first five years to Western Australia.
depending on the portthe study “identified the revenue the state could generate by legalizing cannabis,” and “examined data on the form and frequency of cannabis use, as well as the estimated cost of enforcing existing laws prohibiting cannabis use.”
“We wanted to know the actual truth about this, and we commissioned it without expecting any particular outcome,” said Brian Walker, leader of the Legalize Cannabis WA Party, the group that commissioned the report, said ABC Radio Perth.
This is the first time anyone has shown their work, and explained exactly how their numbers were arrived at. On the spending side, we have things like the police — to go after cannabis crime — the courts and corrective services to manage that. All in all, that’s about $100 million a year.
Cannabis is illegal in Australia, with penalties varying from state to state. in Western Australia, According to the guardianAnd “[f]ines between $2,000 and $20,000 and up to two years in prison,” but “for possession of up to 10 grams of police [law enforcement] Discretion can be used to order a person to attend a counseling session (one for adults, two for children).
Walker told ABC Radio Perth: “When you get involved in something illegal, there’s a price to pay. How do you calculate losses if you get raided and lose a million dollars of crop? It all has a cost associated with it. Once it’s legalized, that risk premium goes down.”
ABC Radio Perth has more background on the study: “The data for the report – an economic case for the legalization of cannabis in Western Australia – came from a wide range of sources including the Australian National Drug Strategy Survey, the Australian Crime Commission, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and the National Drug Research Centre. Drugs and Alcohol at UNSW The report, which looked at projected figures for the five-year period after legislation, found that a moderate tax of 25 per cent on adult recreational use of cannabis would generate approximately $137 million in direct tax revenue in Washington based on sales annual amounting to about $686 million. Licensing fees for businesses that intend to sell cannabis will generate an estimated $6.5 million for the economy each year. ”
Legalizing cannabis in Australia may soon move from the realm of theory into actual politics. The Greens, Australia’s minor party, said last year that the country’s constitution enables Parliament to bypass states and legalize pot for recreational use.
According to the guardianAnd The proposal by the Greens “would allow the regulation and sale of cannabis strains approved for recreational consumption in Australia, joining the handful of countries (and the US) that have already moved to legalize them.”
The Guardian reported last month that “Green Party senator David Shoebridge intends to bring the bill to the Senate once the party has taken into account the outcome of those consultations.” “To get anywhere, the bill will need government support and Labor has yet to give any indication that it will throw its weight behind the legislation.”
like guardian He explained, “Under the Constitution [in Australia]States have a responsibility for criminal law,” but the Greens “believe that once cannabis is legalized federally, the Commonwealth will have the authority to create a legal, national market for cannabis.”
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