Australia Reveals Potential Plan to Legalize Cannabis

The Australian Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) recently released a proposal to explore two options for approaching cannabis legalization. At the request of Senator David Shoebridge of the Australian Green Party, the PBO was commissioned to study what cannabis legalization in Australia could look like.

Read more about the legalization of cannabis in Australia and find the latest cannabis news of the day with the Hemp.im mobile app.

First legalization option

According to the PBO report, the first option involves the creation of the National Cannabis Agency (CANA), which would act as the sole wholesaler between producers and retailers. It would set wholesale prices for cannabis and issue licenses to potential cannabis business owners. According to the report, it would be ideal if the agency were entirely funded by the fees required to apply for production and retail licenses.

This option would legalize cannabis for anyone over the age of 18, with no limits on the amount a person can buy. This approach would result in similar penalties as for selling alcohol to minors.

Recreational cannabis would be available to tourists, and residents would be allowed to grow up to six plants. Adult cannabis sales would generate new revenue in the form of a “goods and services tax (GST), as well as an excise tax of 25% on sales.”

The second option for legalizing cannabis in Australia

Option two contains all the provisions from option one, except for the last recommendation. Under this option, the excise tax would be 15% rather than 25%.

The report explains that this approach would be similar to Canada’s cannabis law. In Canada, residents can only grow up to four plants at home, cannot smoke marijuana in public, and are limited to possessing 30 grams in public.

28 billion Australian dollars from sales tax

The PBO predicts that the country could collect up to 28 billion Australian dollars in sales taxes on cannabis during the first decade of legalization.

According to The New Zealand Herald, Senator Shoebridge suggested that cannabis tax revenues could help build more than 88,000 public housing units in the next decade, which could give homes to more than 250,000 people.

“This costing from the PBO shows the incredible opportunity that legal cannabis presents to not only reduce harm but also generate revenue that can be invested in health, education, and public housing,” said Shoebridge.

“The Green model gives adults the right to grow up to six plants at home without paying taxes. This calculation takes that into account. It also guarantees commercial opportunities for cooperatives and local businesses to grow and sell marijuana, including through regulated cannabis clubs.”

The legalization of cannabis makes sense

He also explained that legalization simply makes sense. “Legalized cannabis makes tremendous social and economic sense. When we legalize cannabis, we take billions away from organized crime, police, and criminal justice, and then we can spend it on schools, housing, hospitals, and social support,” said Shoebridge.

In addition, he added, legalization reduces the damage done by the previous prohibition, and overall, polls have shown that most Australians regularly support and consume cannabis.

“The fact is that nearly half of the Australian adults have consumed cannabis at one time or another.” – Shoebridge said.

“When you legalize cannabis, you can properly regulate the market, provide consistent health and safety warnings, and make the product safer. Right now, the only ‘safety regulators’ in the cannabis market are motorcycle gangs and organized crime, and that doesn’t make much sense.”

Commercial cultivation could begin in Australia as early as July 2023, if PBO plans are adopted. Applications for production and retail licenses could begin as early as 2023 or 2024. It is expected that if the PBO plans are adopted, the start of sales would take place in 2024 or 2025.

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(Featured image by kitkatty007 via Pixabay)

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