Legalising cannabis ‘could earn Treasury £3.5bn’
Report suggests change to law would generate revenue and cut costs across justice system
The Guardian (UK)
Saturday, June 2, 2018
Saturday, June 2, 2018
Introducing a legal cannabis market to the UK could earn the Treasury between £1bn and £3.5bn a year in tax revenues, a new report suggests. Health Poverty Action, an international development organisation, claims that regulating and legalising cannabis in the UK is an “idea whose time has come” and that the windfall could be used to plug the gap in the NHS budget. “Prohibition has failed,” said the group’s advocacy officer, Natasha Horsfield. “From our perspective, it’s about regulating the market to improve public health outcomes and create a safer environment. But we can see the potential benefits from a taxation perspective if we were to regulate it.” (See also: Why we must legalise cannabis now for the sake of public health)
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