The University of Western Australia has calculated that legalising recreational cannabis could boost the state’s coffers by almost A$250 million per year in the first five years.
Commissioned by Legalise Cannabis WA, the research team found a 25% tax on adult use would generate around $137m in direct tax revenue, based on annual sales of approximately $686m.
Licensing fees for businesses intending to sell cannabis would add an estimated $6.5m to the economy each year.
The cost of policing current laws was also considered, before the team arrived at its figure of $243.5m.
Data for the report – An Economic Case to Legalise Cannabis in Western Australia – came from sources including the Australian National Drug Strategy Survey, Australian Crime Commission, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, and the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of NSW.
It was commissioned by Legalise Cannabis WA.
The party’s MP Dr Brian Walker told ABC Radio Perth: “We wanted to find out the actual truth on this, and we commissioned this not expecting any particular result.
“This is the first time anyone has shown their working, and set out exactly how their figures were arrived at. On the spending side we’ve got stuff like your police — for chasing a cannabis crime — the courts and the corrective services for managing that. Altogether, that’s about $100 million per year.”
The report found 11% of WA’s population (243,000) had used cannabis in the past 12 months, and 37% (790,000) had used it at least once before.
A spokesperson for the government said it remains committed to ensuring access to medicinal cannabis, but has no plans to legalise recreational use.
