Legalising Cannabis Could Bring £3.5bn to the UK, Says New Report

There are a lot of arguments in favour of legalising cannabis here in the UK.

One of the most popular, at least amongst MPs, is the money it could bring in to the country.

A recent report has found that legalising marijuana could bring in between £1 billion and £3.5bn PER YEAR in tax revenues - that could be enough to save the NHS from collapse.

People are generally getting more on board with legalising the drug. A recent poll found that 52 percent of 18 to 44-year-olds supported it, and 47 percent of the rest of the population in favour, reports the Metro.

Seems like if it came to a vote it'd be a very close call.

It's been legalised all over the place at this point. Uruguay went first in 2013, and now nine US states have made it legal (recreational too, not just medical).

It's expected that Canada will soon follow in the footsteps of the USA and make it legal to buy marijuana in shops - likely in August this year.

PA

New Zealand have also promised to hold a referendum within three years.

The report was written by Matthew Bramall, an officer for international development organisation Health Poverty Action.

He says, "'It is time to accept that prohibition is not only ineffective and expensive, but that regulation could - if it is done well - protect vulnerable groups and promote public health.

"It would also generate both taxes (at least £1 billion annually, but potentially more) and savings, which taken together would mean more resources for health, harm reduction and other public services."

That could mean more money for schools, hospitals, and public transport - something we can all get on board with.

Legalising the drug would almost certainly ease the pressure on the legal system and police force, as well as reducing harm to users.

That's because it would be tested and monitored properly and more regularly, making sure everyone's smoking the safe stuff.

In some of the US states that have legalised cannabis, alcohol consumption's drastically reduced. With binge drinking such a strain on the NHS, this also sounds pretty good.

The Health Poverty Action report added: "While we do not know exactly how the market will respond to regulation, and while we do not know exactly what regulatory model would be used, it would seem a fair assumption that a legal recreational cannabis market is likely to bring at least £1bn annually, and it could be much more."

It was lowered to a Class C drug by Tony Blair, but Gordon Brown put it back up a Class B and it's not come down again since.

Topics: UK News, Cannabis, Marijuana, Drugs, NHS

Daisy Jackson

Daisy Jackson is a freelance writer, who has previously worked at Shortlist Media and Trinity Mirror. She has written about the Manchester terror attacks and appeared on BBC Five live to discuss the aftermath, as well as interviewing an orthopaedic surgeon in Syria.