FDS Insight Magazine Jun - Sep 2023

24 Legalising cannabis could generate tens of billions in revenue, enabling big dole increase, Greens argue Samantha Maiden, news.com.au (30/1/23) egalising cannabis could generate $28 billion in taxes, according to the Parliamentary Budget Office, and allow the government to increase the dole by $80 a week. The Greens have commissioned the PBO to war game the revenue that could flow from legalisation, a path embraced by Canada, where marijuana can be bought by adults at government- run stores and licensed private retailers. It remains a crime in Canada to grow more than four plants at home, smoke in public, carry more than 30 grams or sell to anyone aged 18 or under. Under the Greens’ plan you could grow six plants in Australia, but it would remain a crime to sell pot to anyone underage, such as teenagers. The Greens want to legalise cannabis and argue it could create revenue for the government. Figures obtained by the Greens from the PBO show that the legalisation of cannabis would generate more than $28 billion in government revenue in the first decade after legalisation. Greens Senator David Shoebridge, the party’s justice spokesman, said the money generated could be used to raise the rate of JobSeeker and the Youth Allowance by $80 a fortnight. Alternatively, it could be deployed to build more than 88,000 additional public housing units over the next decade to give 250,000 people a home. ‘We know that legalising cannabis reduces harm by keeping people out of the criminal justice system, this report shows how it will also bring in tens of billions of dollars of public revenue as well,’ Mr Shoebridge said. ‘With the revenue generated from legalised cannabis we can build new public housing for a quarter of a million people or lift JobSeeker by $80 a fortnight. This is an opportunity for some serious investment in social justice.’ David Shoebridge. Picture: Martin Ollman/NCA NewsWire While the assumption is that drugs law remains a state issue, the Greens have advice that cannabis could be legalised via federal powers. L