How much revenue would Australia land if recreational cannabis was made legal?

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Recreational cannabis in Australia is essentially illegal. There are many reasons why it should be legalised and a recent report has revealed the financial benefits to the government coffers if it was legalised.

If the recreational use of cannabis was legalised in Australia, the market would be worth more an estimated $5 billion annually.

This includes the tax revenue from the sale of cannabis products and the potential savings to the court system when petty drug crimes are not criminal offences. It does not include the unknown savings to the police departments not having to worry about chasing small drug crimes.

Cannabis is the most widely used drug in the country, with 12 per cent of people reporting having used it in the past year according to national statistics.

At the moment, the black market is worth at least $4.5 billion a year — all of which goes into the pockets of criminals and organised gangs.

There has been a growing movement calling for recreational cannabis use to be decriminalised, on the back of several American states and Canada.

After successful lobbying, medicinal marijuana became legal for certain sufferers of chronic illness and disease in 2018.

The amusing thing is, although the cost of medicinal cannabis has dropped by 50 per cent in the past year, approved Australian patients still pay almost a quarter above what illegal marijuana costs.

This type of research is promising for Australia and I would be very pleased to see the country take steps towards full legalisation. The recent vote in New Zealand has provided hope that the Australian jurisdiction might start to see the benefits of not clogging up the court system with petty drug crimes. At the moment the current conservative government in Australia wouldn't look sideways at recreational legalisation, even though laws vary across some states.

Thanks for reading.




1 comments
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It would definitely be extremely lucrative not just for the state but also for the citizens of Australia (and of course traders from other nations).


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