The economic case for legalising cannabis

The public wants it and it would be good for the economy. Why has the law not been changed?

Paul Birch in The Telegraph

Channel 4’s Drugs Live programme promises to examine what cannabis does to the brain. Many of us have already seen the clips of Jon Snow struggling after a massive dose of high strength marijuana (the equivalent of forcing a teetotaller to down a bottle of vodka and then asking him how he feels).

But beyond the effects of cannabis on the brain, isn’t it time for a wider discussion on the potential effects of safe, regulated cannabis consumption on society?

How much is cannabis worth these days? According to the Institute for Economic and Research, up to £900m could be raised annually through taxation of regulated cannabis market.

Meanwhile £361 million is currently spent every year on policing and treating users of illegally traded and consumed cannabis.

It seems a lot to spend on punishing people for an activity most of us barely believe should be a crime any more. And that’s even before one factors in the potential benefit legalisation and regulation of cannabis could have for the UK exchequer.

Then, there is the job creation potential. In Colorado, which legalised marijuana at the beginning of 2014, 10,000 now work in the marijuana industry: growing and harvesting crops, working in dispensaries, and making and selling equipment. Crime has fallen: in the first three months after legalisation in Denver, the city experienced a 14.6 per cent drop in crime and specifically violent crime is down 2.4 per cent. Assaults were down by 3.7 per cent.

This reduction led to further savings and allowing stretched police forces to concentrate on more serious issues. Meanwhile, cannabis use by young people actually decreased, an uncomfortable fact for prohibitionists who argue that legalisation would simply encourage more teens to take up cannabis.

In an age when every penny of government spending is fought for, the demonstrated potential savings and revenues at very least deserve serious investigation. Revenue raised from a regulated cannabis trade could be directed towards education on safe use of cannabis.

That’s why the next government – regardless of who it is led by, should set up a Royal Commission into drug legislation.

Why a Royal Commission? Because I firmly believe this is a way forward for our fractured politics. A non-partisan commission can help politicians take hold of an issue and look at the evidence beyond the fears of being blindsided by attacks from the other side. Parties can agree to participate, evidence can be heard, everyday people can submit and read facts, opinions and analysis: it’s a real opportunity to create the “evidence-based policy” to which every party claims they aspire.

Major party leaders are reluctant to grasp the nettle of drug legislation. It’s understandable, given the current association of drugs with criminality. Half of people in the UK think cannabis contributes to street crime. But this association is inevitable as long as cannabis itself is illegal. Only a dispassionate discussion on the merits of cannabis legalisation and regulation can break that link.

Cista is standing for election on this issue because we believe the practical evidence has reached tipping point. Legalisation and regulation of cannabis can benefit the economy, lift the burden on the criminal justice system, encourage education about healthy, informed choices, and help recreational and medicinal cannabis users to enjoy a clean, safe product without being forced to engage with the underworld. Cannabis in itself is not the problem: our current law is. And we’re all paying the price.