Can legalisation of Cannabis help US economy?

[fiulpro]

According to former Senator Tom Daschle legalising Cannabis can partially solve US economy’s problems in the short term, and it can even help to stabilise the US economy in the long run.

The Senator has further claimed that Cannabis is an $16 billion dollar industry, and it has the potential to become a $75 billion industry in the long run.

Also he’s acknowledged the fact that Cannabis is approved in 40 states, and if it’s legalised in all the states then it could create much needed jobs, and even the government can benefit from the taxes levied on it’s sale.

Last in my opinion whoever wins the upcoming election will not approve this idea instantly, but what do you’ll think can legalising Cannabis can actually help the US economy in the short term?.

Source:

https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/515299-one-cure-for-an-ailing-american-economy-legalize-cannabis

Short answer : NO

Legalisation of Cannabis won't help the economy of not just the US but of any country.

People would for sure be elated about it but there are certain things to consider:

1. This would make it easier for people to get it therefore causing addiction for maybe even 10% of the daily consumers.
I do believe that people think that it's not addictive and in some places people even call it the "medicinal weed" therefore they say it won't medically cause any problem.

But, in reality the usage can cause various disorders which would inturn make it harder to monitor where it's coming from and where it's going.

2. There are many mafias involved in the buying/selling of this particular drug; they would not only cause problems but the government can no longer hold them accountable.

_

Right now it can be medically obtained if prescribed therefore I do believe that's all it should be. With 41,910,114 teenagers in the US ; risking their futures is not how we deal with a crisis..

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[MCobian]

I don't think it's a good idea to legalize cannabis for the purpose of helping the American economy. Based on the research I have done,
cannabis can have adverse mental and health effects. Therefore, the number of countries that legalized cannabis was not large. I think
Tom Daschle is a cannabis addict, so he really wants to legalize cannabis. Because I've never heard of any politician has such an idea.
And I am curious about what Donald Trump thinks about this idea.

[Mauser]

I don't think it's a good idea to legalize cannabis for the purpose of helping the American economy. Based on the research I have done,
cannabis can have adverse mental and health effects. Therefore, the number of countries that legalized cannabis was not large. I think
Tom Daschle is a cannabis addict, so he really wants to legalize cannabis. Because I've never heard of any politician has such an idea.
And I am curious about what Donald Trump thinks about this idea.

The Netherlands are doing pretty fine with legal cannabis. It supports the local economy, attracts tourist, and helps their people. If the cannabis industry would get regulated the quality would get better - so a plus for the consumers. Also, instead of supporting drug cartels with buying weed, the government could actually tax the sale and make a profit of it.  Growing cannabis locally would support the local economy and offer new jobs. I think long term US should make it legal in all states. California seems to be doing well also with legalised cannabis.

[exstasie]

Firstly, to solve a problem ones actually have to find the source we know the printing of excess money was one of the thing that causes economy meltdown from the get go. The statement made by former Senate Tom Daschle about legalising Cannabis as solution to economy problem is ridiculous, why didnt they stop the printing of dollars to pump the stock market which is what Trump use to do and backed the US dollars with precious metals instead of oil and gas.

To a Keynesian, money printing is not a problem as long as there is sufficient growth (including wage growth) to offset the effects of inflation. Legalized cannabis can provide that growth. It's a well known fact that prohibition can't completely kill demand for illegal goods like drugs, but it definitely cuts down the size and growth potential of the overall market.

[Darkoth89]

Canada and their legalization of Cannabis can be seen as a good example, in my opinion. When they legalized marihuana in 2018 a complete new business sector began booming. Investors from all over the world saw their opportunity in this "green rush", investing like crazy and creating a bubble that eventually popped in early 2019. The North American Marijuana Index shows this development pretty good. From its ATH it lost around 80% at one point. Canopy Growth, which was once one of the biggest companies in the cannabis sector saw their market cap falling from $24 billion to $6 billion [1].


North American Marijuana Index
Source: https://marijuanaindex.com/stock-quotes/north-american-marijuana-index-tracking-top-cannabis-stocks-in-north-america/

And it seems like there is no real turnaround ahead. In fact, it's quite the opposite. The legal cannabis seems to have problems with high prices and poor quality. So even though cannabis is legalized, the black market is thriving in Canada, taking away customers of legal cannabis [1].

So to come back to the title of this thread. I think this shows pretty good that neither will the legalization of cannabis saves the US economy, nor does it justify a blind hype for that business sector.


[1]: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/18/cannabis-canada-legal-recreational-business

[Salauddin1994]

Cannabis legalization could help the U.S. economy because global climate change has had an impact on the U.S. The country's agriculture is in danger. Once known as the bread basket of the Middle East the country's farmers are now unable to cope with the changing climate and have resorted to cannabis cultivation to alleviate the economic woes. The government is trying to legalize cannabis considering the country's economic situation as it is possible to cultivate it in drought prone weather and relatively low water. since the cultivation of Gaza has not yet been legalized it will pose a great risk to them.

[hatshepsut93]

The Senator has further claimed that Cannabis is an $16 billion dollar industry, and it has the potential to become a $75 billion industry in the long run.

16-75 billion is peanuts on a macroeconomic level. Even big industries like tobacco or alcohol won't have effect on US economy, US is a highly developed economy with diverse industries, it's not some small and poor country that lives predominantly off one type of industry, like tourism or agriculture.

[ChiBitCTy]

As a U.S. citizen and someone who extremely pro- marijuana ( if you're not pro-marijuana you're a fucking moron just for the record ) I know for a fact that it can help build the economy.  It will do a great favor for our massive budget deficit that has skyrocketed thanks to President Donald Trump.  There are some issues however.  Here in my state of Illinois the taxation is insane and it will allow for the black market to thrive. 

Here are the tax rates for Illinois.  This should service as a guide on how NOT to legalize marijuana in your state.  The legal markets will NEVER thrive with prices this high. 

As per mpp.org...

"Taxes

At the wholesale level, cannabis products will be subject to a 7% tax when they are sold by cultivation centers or craft grows.

At the retail level, Illinois is taking a unique approach. Rather than a blanket tax for all cannabis products, Illinois will charge a tax rate based on the relative potency of the cannabis and the type of product. The more concentrated THC is, the higher the tax rate:

10% tax will apply to cannabis flower or products with less than 35% THC
20% tax will apply to products infused with cannabis, such as edible products
25% tax will apply to any product with a THC concentration higher than 35%
In addition to these scalable tax rates, the state’s regular 6.25% sales tax rate also applies, along with local taxes of up to 3.5%. The range consumers will pay at the register — which does not include the 7% tax levied at wholesale — will be between 19.55% to 34.75% retail tax, depending on the product’s potency".

[StyleForceOne]

There is no short answer to that. I mean we will see it in overall economic statistics of states that did legalize it already in 3+ years or so.
Its really hard to tell what is the economical impact, but surely it will decrease cannabis related crimes, so could possibly bring unexpected profit or rather non-loss

[stompix]

Cannabis legalization could help the U.S. economy because global climate change has had an impact on the U.S. The country's agriculture is in danger. Once known as the bread basket of the Middle East the country's farmers are now unable to cope with the changing climate and have resorted to cannabis cultivation to alleviate the economic woes.

Yeah right, in areas affected by drought you grow a plant that needs infinite more water than corn!
Besides, the whole doom and gloom about agriculture is as usual, false.
https://www.agriculture.com/news/crops/usda-raises-the-us-corn-soybean-yield-expectations

Enoguht to feed China, lol:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china-soybeans/china-buys-664000-tonnes-of-us-soybeans-biggest-daily-total-in-nearly-seven-weeks-usda-idUSKBN25Z2CA

In the early stages, it would be more about transitioning away from the informal, black economy and towards the formal economy than about actual growth. Cannabis already accounts for a massive underground economy, informally employing millions of people, or formally employing them only at the state level. They're just not paying federal taxes or complying with federal law.

Yeah, they don't pay one tax, but with the money they gain they buy stuff from others who pay taxes, so just a level or one step of the process is not taxed.
We had the same thing here when a stupid minister thought that if we reduce the black market by 10 billion there will be an extra income just in VAT ( EU system, we do things differently) alone of  1-1.5 billion, forgetting that the money those guys earn is also spent on stuff, just buying gas here and the government gets 50% of that. So that whole thing is overly exaggerated, the returns will never be that big as they anticipate.

Plus, let's see how much they are going to spend on food stamps:) as I doubt the former dealer can claim unemployment benefits.

[bitgolden]

Can it? Sure. Will it? Not sure. In the way that cannabis was an illegal trade way before it ever got legal anywhere in the USA, it was a thing that helped people medically as well for a long time too, so in the end we are talking about something that will not be created from brand new, it was already there. Which means all those "profits" were already profits, they were just not legal, that is the only difference.

Instead of some drug dealer making profit, we are not talking about ... well drug dealers but legit kind, like with dispensary and so forth, which means it can be taxed and you won't go to jail in return. So it could help with the taxes which will go straight to families and friends of the politicians anyway, but unfortunately it won't help because of the same reason.

[thesmallgod]

$16 billion is still small compare to trillions of dollar needed to stabilize the economy. Legalizing cannabis must be for another reasons and not to use it as a leverage for economy recovery except the government is considering it with other things for a source for the required money for economy recovery. I understand well that the cannabis has been legalised is some of the states but how much influence does it bring to the economy and growths of those states

[posi]

Firstly, to solve a problem ones actually have to find the source we know the printing of excess money was one of the thing that causes economy meltdown from the get go. The statement made by former Senate Tom Daschle about legalising Cannabis as solution to economy problem is ridiculous, why didnt they stop the printing of dollars to pump the stock market which is what Trump use to do and backed the US dollars with precious metals instead of oil and gas.

I agree that with you cause legalization of Cannabis is not enough to help the US economy and if more correction are not done in the aspect of money printing and federal reserve the same circumstance will always transpire sooner or later.

[exstasie]

The Senator has further claimed that Cannabis is an $16 billion dollar industry, and it has the potential to become a $75 billion industry in the long run.

16-75 billion is peanuts on a macroeconomic level. Even big industries like tobacco or alcohol won't have effect on US economy, US is a highly developed economy with diverse industries, it's not some small and poor country that lives predominantly off one type of industry, like tourism or agriculture.

$75 billion isn't insignificant. It's something like 0.3-0.4% of the national GDP.

More importantly, it's quite a labor intensive industry. If cannabis industry jobs grow by the same factor, that's an additional 1.5-2 million jobs added to the economy, based on current numbers. That's enough to account for 2%+ of the current unemployment rate. That's a big deal.

[mindrust]

Why would it?

If it becomes legal, everybody would grow their own plant instead of buying it from someone else.

Cig companies like marlboro will take a hit too.

Making weed legal would be a net negative to the economy actually.

[Oilacris]

Why would it?

If it becomes legal, everybody would grow their own plant instead of buying it from someone else.

Cig companies like marlboro will take a hit too.

Making weed legal would be a net negative to the economy actually.

Definitely. I do have the same view that if its legalized then growing or planting your own wont really be a problem.I dont see for this industry to be that relevant or can

really actually help US economy and as said above that the state alone doesnt only rely on few industries into their vicinity.Its just a small number but to know the fact that

it can really affect other industries as well.

[Twinkledoe]

I no longer understand why to recover the economy so far at least there is news about the legalization of something that was previously illegal. If something illegal can restore the economy quickly, will it have a healthy impact on society? The government should not easily legalize something that will have a bad impact on the people. If the economy can recover quickly but there are other sides that will have a bad impact, then I think a gradual economic recovery is the best way and there is no need to legalize something illegal just for a quick economic recovery.

I agree your point here. Better look for other options to alleviate the economy. Because this will not help people but will turn more people to be addicts. And I don't think this is good for the society. There are so many ways to address the economy and the government knows better.

[plr]

The author of the article clearly state that he is with legalizing Cannabis because it will help US economy, create jobs and business and cure some health issues, it looks like Cannabis is one of the issue that will face the next administration if they badly need funds this is a good source of funds the advantages outweighs the disadvantages, if they legalize it, there's a strong possibility that many countries will do the same.

[Febo]

Cannabis legalization could help the U.S. economy because global climate change has had an impact on the U.S. The country's agriculture is in danger. Once known as the bread basket of the Middle East the country's farmers are now unable to cope with the changing climate and have resorted to cannabis cultivation to alleviate the economic woes. The government is trying to legalize cannabis considering the country's economic situation as it is possible to cultivate it in drought prone weather and relatively low water. since the cultivation of Gaza has not yet been legalized it will pose a great risk to them.

USA is so huge that climate change will not damage its agriculture much. They will just move it elsewhere, if on some areas will be to hot and plant there plants that need less water. Climate change will be devastating for smaller countries. Well not devastating. But will demand for them big changes to take.

[NavI_027]

if they legalize it, there's a strong possibility that many countries will do the same.

We don't yet know, but I'm sure in one thing, our country would take a longer period of time before we come that far. Our president really hates drugs . Though already proven that marijuana can be used as an aid for curing different diseases, the government still show opposition against it. And I agree with such decision. Why? Because I'm not confident that no one will abuse it once implemented. It was a form of drug after all, it can cause addiction and ruin one's life. Maybe that's what our president is afraid of.