Manlinose Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 The US state of Colorado legalised the sale of marijuana in January - in the first month they took £2m in taxes and fees according to a report in the times (although the BBC link has a slightly different figure) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26523833 The population of Colorado is approx 5.5m I think. Assuming the same proportion of pot smokers in the UK, it is feasible that we could raise approximately £240m a year if we did the same If I was Mr Osborne I'd be seriously considering it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geared Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 It's $3.5m including the medical places, which is roughly £2m. It's only the first month so you can't really extrapolate future taxes from that, there's no really 'big business' in the market yet either it's lots of independent traders all doing their own thing. Still it's not an insignificant amount of money, and it's created quite a few jobs as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidPhunk Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 I'm off there in July..........not for the pot of course, we'd booked a jolly to the Rockie mountains over a year ago. I'll report back how crazy it is now the wackie backie is readily available!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barleycorn Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 I'm off there in July..........not for the pot of course, we'd booked a jolly to the Rockie mountains over a year ago. I'll report back how crazy it is now the wackie backie is readily available!! With the inevitable hoards of stoned knife wielding paranoid schizos roaming the streets looking for their next victim I doubt you'll make it back alive. jb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidPhunk Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 With the inevitable hoards of stoned knife wielding paranoid schizos roaming the streets looking for their next victim I doubt you'll make it back alive. jb I'll just take my Bob Marley hat they'll think I'm one of them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L00b Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Can't be worse than alcohol, in terms of ill effects when consumed without moderation. (I'll readily confess that I'm presuming, as I've never done any sort of drug like 'pot' or worse...but seen plenty enough loud/violent/fighting drunkards over the years). So that report makes the case for legalisation a bit more compelling. IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzijlstra Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 The 'profit' side will go down, I think quite a few other US states are thinking of legalising and at that point the imported trade will dry up. Pot is no more dangerous than alcohol (a lot less so) but it still needs to be respected, problem with the debate is that it gets polarised: you are either for, or against. There is a middle-way somewhere. For example: Recently an acquaintance of mine ended up in a canal with his car because he was high as a kite, he didn't seem to know (he is lying) that driving whilst high is not a good combination. In the Netherlands there has been promotion of the dangers of marihuana almost as long as it has been 'semi-legal' and at times I think that still isn't enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mecky Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Can't be worse than alcohol, in terms of ill effects when consumed without moderation. (I'll readily confess that I'm presuming, as I've never done any sort of drug like 'pot' or worse...but seen plenty enough loud/violent/fighting drunkards over the years). So that report makes the case for legalisation a bit more compelling. IMHO. Why can't it be worse than alcohol? In fact, why try to measure one off against the other? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barleycorn Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Why can't it be worse than alcohol? In fact, why try to measure one off against the other? Why not? The legality of drugs in the UK is meant to be based upon their harm yet the classifications bear little to no resemblance to the actual harm they cause. http://www.mapinc.org/lib/LancetFigure1.gif http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2010/11/drugs_cause_most_harm http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2810%2961462-6/abstract# http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2807%2960464-4/fulltext?_eventId=login http://jop.sagepub.com/content/23/1/3.extract jb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L00b Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Why can't it be worse than alcohol?Because it doesn't make people under its influence any more violent or antisocial than alcohol (so I'm told by its supporters). In fact, why try to measure one off against the other?Because in the UK, sale and consumption of alcohol is legal and brings in tax revenue, whereas sale and consumption of pot is still illegal AFAIK. Seemed obvious enough...but apparently not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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