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Published: June
9, 2004
Stephen T. Easton, Senior Fellow / Email:
stevee@fraserinstitute.ca
The Fraser
Institute / Telephone (604)
688-0221, ext. 561
Legalize
Cannabis and Tax the Revenue
BC's Marijuana Crop Worth Over $7 Billion
Annually &endash; Legalize It and Tax the
Revenue, says Fraser Institute
Vancouver, BC -
BC's annual marijuana crop, if valued at
retail street prices and sold by the
cigarette, is worth over $7 billion,
according to a new study Marijuana Growth
in British Columbia, released today by The
Fraser Institute.
Marijuana should
be decriminalized, treated like any legal
product, and the revenue taxed. Using
conservative assumptions about Canadian
consumption, this could translate into
potential revenues for the government of
over $2 billion.
The study's
author, Stephen Easton, professor of
economics at Simon Fraser University and a
Senior Fellow at The Fraser Institute,
estimates that there are roughly 17,500
marijuana grow ops in BC.
Marijuana is
produced extensively and over 23 percent
of Canadians admit to having used it.
Easton points out that the broader social
question has become not whether we approve
or disapprove of local production, but
rather who shall enjoy the spoils.
"If we treat
marijuana like any other commodity we can
tax it, regulate it, and use the resources
the industry generates rather than
continue a war against consumption and
production that has long since been lost,"
said Easton. "It is apparent that we are
reliving the experience of alcohol
prohibition of the early years of the last
century."
Indoor marijuana
cultivation and consumption appears to be
higher in BC than in the rest of Canada.
Easton points out that the most striking
difference is that only 13 percent of
offenders in BC are actually charged while
that number climbs to 60 percent for the
rest of Canada. In addition, the penalties
for conviction in BC are low: fifty-five
percent of those convicted receive no jail
time.
While police
resources are spent to destroy nearly
3,000 marijuana grow-ops a year in BC, the
consequences are relatively minor for
those convicted. The industry is simply
too profitable to prevent new people
moving into production and old producers
from rebuilding.
"Unless we wish
to continue the transfer of these billions
from this lucrative endeavor to organized
crime, the current policy on prohibition
should be changed. Not only would we
deprive some very unsavoury groups of a
profound source of easy money, but also
resources currently spent on marijuana
enforcement would be available for other
activities," said Easton.
Established
in 1974, The Fraser Institute is an
independent public policy organization
with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, and
Toronto. Click
here for a PDF of complete
publication. 
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