Cannabis generates an annual turnover of around CHF1 billion ($1.03 billion) in Switzerland, according to a new study. The figure, published by the University of Geneva, contains production, import and trade in the shadow economy as well as legal economic activity, notably policing, the justice system, social work and healthcare. It is the equivalent of CHF582 million in annual revenue of the Swiss market for recreational cannabis, according to researchers. In addition, the direct and indirect turnover of the other segments of the cannabis system amount to about CHF425 million annually without factoring in the total gross value added, the study said.

Legalizing marijuana in B.C. could generate $2.5 billion in government tax and licensing revenues over the next five years, according to a study published this month in the International Journal of Drug Policy. The information comes after Washington state and Colorado passed measures two weeks ago approving the legalization of marijuana for adult use under a strictly regulated system.

Legalizing marijuana nationwide would create at least $132 billion in tax revenue and more than a million new jobs across the United States in the next decade, according to a new study. New Frontier Data, a data analytics firm focused on the cannabis industry, forecasts that if legalized on the federal level, the marijuana industry could create an entirely new tax revenue stream for the government, generating millions of dollars in sales tax and payroll deductions. The analysis shows that if marijuana were fully legal in all 50 states, it would create at least a combined $131.8 billion in in federal tax revenue between 2017 and 2025. That is based on an estimated 15 percent retail sales tax, payroll tax deductions and business tax revenue.

Research being conducted by a former Victoria city councillor is poking holes in marijuana’s reputation as a gateway drug. According to an academic paper authored by Philippe Lucas, marijuana may be an effective substitute for prescription drugs or alcohol, similar to the way methadone is used to treat heroin addicts. “The evidence suggests that cannabis is a potential exit drug for addiction,” Lucas said.

After Colorado legalized marijuana for recreational use this year, violent and property crime rates in the city are actually falling. According to data from the Denver Police Department, violent crime (including homicide, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault) fell by 6.9% in the first quarter of 2014. Property crime (including burglary, larceny, auto theft, theft from motor vehicle and arson) dropped by 11.1%. A study looking at the legalization of medical marijuana nationwide, published in the journal PLOS ONE, found that the trend holds.

Most Czechs would favour an easing of the current legalisation on possession and cultivation of cannabis, suggests a study by the firm Behavio for the group Charta 420, who support calls from the national anti-drug coordinator, Jindřich Vobořil, for soft drug liberalisation. The survey indicates that two out of three Czechs agree with the decriminalisation of cannabis and the regulation of the sale of marijuana to adults. One-quarter of those questioned said they would leave current law in the area in place, while 3 percent want tougher regulations on drug use, the study suggests. (See also: Poll: Most people would relax laws on possession and cultivation of cannabis)

A new crime-data analysis has found that 241,000 people in Washington were arrested for misdemeanor marijuana possession over the last quarter-century, adding fuel to a campaign seeking to make this state the first to legalize recreational marijuana sales. The analysis estimates those arrests translated to nearly $306 million in police and court costs — $194 million of it the past decade. African Americans were arrested twice as often as whites for possession in Washington in the past 25 years, even though whites use marijuana more.

Marijuana-related emergency room visits in Colorado have increased at a higher rate for out-of-state guests than for residents since cannabis was legalized, according to a new study. The Northwestern Medicine and the University of Colorado School of Medicine looked at ER visits at more than 100 hospitals in Colorado in which there was a diagnosis of patients having used cannabis. Researchers compared the records from 2012, when the Colorado ballot measure passed to legalize marijuana, with 2014, when it was legally sold for recreational use. The study did not look at whether ER patients smoked marijuana or ingested edible marijuana products. Inexperienced users are unaware of the delayed effect of edibles.

La paralización del programa piloto para la dispensación de cannabis para adultos en la ciudad de Basilea podría tener una salida rápida en la importación de cogollos desde Canadá. Así lo han propuesto desde el Departamento de Salud de la ciudad, en donde la cosecha de cannabis supuestamente orgánico ya estaba lista para su venta a los usuarios registrados en el programa, pero fue paralizado después de que se detectaran pesticidas. Estaba previsto que el pasado 15 de septiembre se iniciaran las ventas de cannabis para uso en Basilea, pero el lanzamiento del proyecto fue paralizado tras hallar restos de pesticidas en el cannabis, que supuestamente había sido producido de forma orgánica.

The Beckley report, Licensing and Regulation of the Cannabis Market in England and Wales: Towards a Cost-Benefit Analysis, grasps of the economic consequences of a regulated market, as opposed to the current prohibitionist model. This is essential for evaluating the impacts of possible drug policy reform. The report outlines the factors which must be included in further cost-benefit analyses. The report costed 60.000 pounds and 3 years to create. Reliable data was often lacking and more evidence is needed.

One of the key advantages to a cost-benefit analysis is its complete elimination of subjective and emotive processes, which have become an unfortunate mainstay in the drug policy debate - this gives the results an objective credibility.

It is very important to note that by excluding 'internal costs and benefits' the report specifically excludes the reasons why people use cannabis, such as medication, enjoyment and creativity - instead this report takes the perspective of a concerned tax payer, or a budget-focused politician.

An often-used argument surrounding cannabis reform is the concept of the 'gateway effect'; the idea that cannabis use leads to the use of 'harder drugs'. This report not only rejects the idea of a demand side gateway effect (through a thorough assessment of the available data), but also introduces the idea that a regulated market would virtually eliminate another sort of damaging gateway effect, namely the supply-side gateway. This is where social dealers of cannabis come into contact with professional dealers of a larger variety of drugs and thus are more likely to progress to dealing harder drugs.

Another element which has gained much attention in recent history is the mental health costs of cannabis brought about by the increased ratio of THC to CBD. One of the many advantages of a regulated market is that through health-education, labelling and variable tax rates, strains of cannabis with a high CBD ratio can be encouraged, particularly for vulnerable users.

The main conclusion is that there would be a net social benefit to reform of some­where between 280 and 460 million pounds. This means that even when we ignore the experiential benefits claimed by cannabis users and just focus on the financial effects on society at large, the argument for reform remains robust, compelling and increasingly difficult for policy makers to ignore.

On top of the financial benefit there are of course many other advantages. These include increased respect of human rights, the avoidance of discrimination in the enforcement of prohibition, the minimisation of the blighting effect of a criminal record on a person’s life and the increased accessibility to health information and treatment. The current criminalization of cannabis users sacrifices the credibility of health campaigns. Moreover, based on US evidence it is expected that access to cannabis for teenagers would probably decrease.

Because taxes are a transfer, rather than a net social gain, they are not included in the report’s cost benefit analysis. However, a conservative estimation is made of what the tax revenue might be following reform.

The authors aim to bring the price of cannabis to lower than the illicit price, whilst aiming to keep it high enough to deter the expansion of use due to low price, particularly by the young. This would be achieved by a tax rate of around 70%, which is lower than the 83% on cigarettes and closer to the 72% on high alcohol beer.

The report predicts a small increase in cannabis quantity [+15% - +40%] due to a decreased cannabis price. The price elasticity of cannabis is estimated between [-0.2, -0.7]. The cross-price elasticity is important to consider: will alcohol consumption decrease if the price of cannabis decreases and cannabis consumption increases? According to a study of Clements and Zhao (2005), a4% increase in cannabis consumption would lead to a decrease of alcohol consumption (-1% beer, -2% wine, -4% spirits).

The authors assumed a cap on THC levels of 10% for licensed cannabis. By creating this limitation it leaves higher THC strains of cannabis in the illicit market. It would probably be better to keep all strains of cannabis within the licit market, and use taxation intelligently to make more potentially risky or harmful strains of cannabis less financially attractive. Campaigns could move users away from combining tobacco and cannabis.

The authors estimate that the government would gain in budgetary terms by something around one billion pounds a year, roughly three quarters of which would come from tax revenues rather than expenditure savings. In these times of economic hardship cost-benefit analyses with positive results should surely begin to play a key role in government.

The report

Mark Bryan, Emilia Del Bono, Stephen Pudney, Licensing and Regulation of the Cannabis Market in England and Wales: Towards a Cost-Benefit Analysis, Institute for Social and Economic Research (Iser), University of Essex & Beckley Foundation, September 2013

Twice as many British adults now support the legalisation of cannabis than oppose it, according to a poll which reveals a “widening gulf” between public opinion and drug laws. Forty-eight per cent of voters favour legalising recreational use of marijuana, up five points in the past year, with only 24 per cent objecting, found the YouGov survey. Support for medicinal cannabis was even stronger, with 77 per cent of respondents saying it should be permitted. A similar proportion said they would consider using cannabis-based treatments if there was strong evidence it would benefit them. The Conservative Drug Policy Reform Group (CDPRG), which commissioned the poll, said the findings indicated “clear and growing appetite” for a new approach to drug policy in the UK.

Over 40% of Australians believe marijuana should be legalised, a figure that has nearly doubled since 2013, according to new analysis. Australian researchers have looked into changes in public attitudes towards drug use over time, as measured by responses to the National Drug Strategy Household Survey. The nationally representative surveys, last conducted in 2019, have been collating data on drug use and attitudes every two to three years since 1985. A review of the survey data showed that 41.1% of respondents supported the legalisation of cannabis for personal use in 2019 – a significant rise from 25.5% in 2013. Don Weatherburn, a professor at the University of NSW’s National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre and a co-author of the analysis, said the increase may be linked to growth in marijuana use.

The proportion of young people using marijuana as their first drug doubled in the 10 years from 2004, a US-based study has found. The government study reveals that among people aged between 12 and 21, the proportion of those who tried cigarettes as their first drug fell from about 21% to just under 9% between 2004 and 2014. However, the proportion who turned first to marijuana almost doubled from 4.4% to 8%. While some studies have suggested that, overall, use and abuse of marijuana has fallen among teenagers in the US, the latest research sought to look at trends in which drug, if any, young people turned to first.

With the widespread availability of marijuana in recent years thanks to its legalization in a growing number of states, there has been increasing concern about the long-term health consequences on teens who might be able to get easier access to it illegally. A study published by the American Psychological Association in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors should alleviate some of the worst fears. The researchers found no links to physical or mental health issues -- including depression, psychotic symptoms or asthma -- in any group, even those with very high use.

Producing and selling hemp inflorescences (clusters of flowers on a stem) with a low THC content has been legal in Switzerland since 2017. However, this market has not proved to be the gold mine that some expected. Since 2011, hemp and its derivatives with a THC concentration of under 1% have no longer been considered drugs under Swiss law. The boom of so-called light cannabis, however, only came about in 2017, when it became possible to produce and market the unprocessed inflorescences of this plant in Switzerland, provided the THC content was below the 1% threshold. Many people saw an opportunity, a new Eldorado, and the number of registered producers jumped from five in early 2017 to 630 in 2018.

Cannabis remains by far the most widespread drug enjoyed in Switzerland, even if the value of the market is much lower than that for cocaine. A study published by several groups including Addiction Switzerland estimates the national cannabis market to be worth up to CHF500 million ($516 million). But in canton Vaud, where the study was carried out, the figures show that the total market value was around half that of for cocaine – a finding that Frank Zobel, co-director of Addiction Switzerland, said was a surprise. “We thought that cannabis represented the biggest market in all senses of the word,” he said. “However, the turnover is lower than for cocaine, even if it does remain significantly higher than for other drugs.” (See also: Le marché du cannabis pèse 340 à 500 millions de francs en Suisse)

Parliament has backed a legal change allowing for pilot studies that will distribute cannabis to control groups, in order to find out more about the effects of recreational use. The monitoring studies will be limited in size and duration, and will only include existing cannabis smokers over the age of 18. Interior Minister Alain Berset, who backed the amendment, said that the current situation was “unsatisfactory”. This is particularly the case in bigger cities like Bern, Geneva, Zurich and Basel, who have all expressed an interest in the potential of such trials. One third of the Swiss population has admitted to smoking cannabis at some point, while some 200,000 smoke regularly. But cannabis remains an illegal substance, and there is no oversight of the quality or origin of what’s consumed.

Parliament has approved a modification to the Swiss narcotics law that will allow studies of recreational cannabis use in the country’s largest cities. Both houses approved the change to the law following debate over whether the cannabis had to be of local or organic origin. The right-wing Swiss People’s Party saw this as an opportunity to support the country’s agriculture sector. Parliament ultimately decided that Swiss and organic cannabis should be used as far as possible. The vote paves the way for scientific studies on the effects of the controlled use of cannabis. This is intended to help evaluate the effects of new regulations on the recreational use of cannabis and ultimately, combat the black market distribution of cannabis.

Swiss drug policy is shifting. Some pharmacies and social clubs in major cities are making cannabis available for recreational purposes under scientific pilot projects. There is even talk of extending such trials to cocaine. The scientific pilot SCRIPT will make cannabis available for sale in pharmacies in the Swiss capital Bern, along with the cities of Lucerne and Biel. The goal is to evaluate what impact a regulated, not-for-profit sale of cannabis coupled with advisory services may have on cannabis consumption. It is one of several pilot trials planned across Switzerland. In June, Bern’s city parliament overwhelmingly approved a motion from the Alternative Left party calling on the city to conduct a scientific pilot trial of controlled cocaine sales.  

The Federal Commission for Addiction Issues said that cannabis use in Switzerland had not changed significantly in the past ten years. Despite its popularity, the percentage of problematic users is low, it said. The risks of cannabis are mainly linked to high amounts of THC [active ingredient], early use among teenagers, prolonged use, mixing cannabis and tobacco, and if it is used by people with existing mental problems. The commission recommends Switzerland legalise and regulate the market while protecting the health of its population, especially young people. The government is meanwhile is proposing limited pilot projects. (See also: Top Swiss health commission call for 'legalisation' of cannabis)