The Australian Government Calculates That It Would Take 650 Million in Tax If Cannabis Was Legalised

There are several arguments that pro-cannabis users and groups provide for obtaining legalisation in their respective countries and they are all very convincing. Some state, and correctly so, that this is a plant with several medical benefits; others comment that regulating it would mean that consumers could access it in a completely controlled form and unadulterated. Meanwhile, there is something that never goes unnoticed: everyone (those that are in favour of this political progress as well as those who are not) is aware of the large amount of income that this decision would generate for the country.

One of the nations that have given most thought to this matter recently is Australia. The Office for Parliamentary Budgets has estimated the quantity of money that the government could recoup if, in July 2017, it were to hypothetically legalise the recreational consumption of cannabis, hemp, growing and business and taxes of 10% were applied. According to the body, the revenue would increase by around 650 million dollars (588 million euros). Also, the costs of Federal Policing and the Australian Border Forces would also fall, while consumption would rise from 333 tons up until 2017 to 378 up until 2018.

The matter has arisen a few months after the Ministry for Health announced that it would modify legislation to allow for the controlled growing of the plant for medical uses. It was indeed the Health Minister, Sussan Ley, who a few days ago presented this draft bill in Federal Parliament. In addition to allowing people to tend to plants, is also aimed at facilitating the production of cannabis medication.

The conditions for this measure are strict, with the aim of ensuring the necessary control and safety for patients. Furthermore, the regulation aims to establish a fully Australian system for obtaining cannabis medication and prescribing it to the end user with the approval of a doctor.

A mechanism will also be established for requesting and obtaining a license that authorises growing the plant for the purpose of producing medicines, as well as another in order to obtain the necessary permission for researching cannabis plants with medical applications. Also, those that want to grow need to demonstrate that they have agreements with authorised producers. As such, the legislation will ensure that there is an appropriate production chain and that there is not an excessive amount of produce.

This is a great step forward, given that, for the first time in a long period, the opposition party and the liberals have accepted almost unanimously to modify the Drug Law of 1967. It may only take a few months for a dream to come true, at least, for Australian patients.