Stodgy economists aren’t the likeliest proponents of pot liberalization laws, but a University of Western Ontario professor says legalizing marijuana makes economic sense.
In a recent interview on CBC’s The Lang & O’Leary Exchange, economist and professor Mike Moffatt said legalizing marijuana is a good policy for lawmakers in Canada to consider.
Two U.S. states, Washington and Colorado, recently legalized recreational marijuana use for residents. It’s still early days for what that’s going to mean for people’s lives there, but it’s already clear that there’s a lot of money being made from pot.
Estimates suggest that the state of Colorado raked in more than $2 million in taxes from recreational marijuana sales in the first month after the law was implemented. That works out to about 40 cents for each of the state’s 5.2 million residents.
Extrapolating those numbers elsewhere, the cash-strapped government of Ontario would be looking at $5 million in tax revenue, across 13 million residents. That works out to $60 million a year.
“Over time that could increase to about $1 billion a year [across the country],” Moffatt said.
CBC News – Apr 02, 2014.
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