FDS Insight Magazine Jun - Sep 2023

25 The pathway to legalising cannabis, according to the Greens, is through the Commonwealth’s power to regulate plant variety rights under section 51 of the constitution. ‘Legal cannabis makes enormous social and economic sense. When we legalise cannabis we take billions away from organised crime, police and the criminal justice system and we can then spend it on schools, housing, hospitals and social support,’ Mr Shoebridge said. The Greens believe it could also make Australia an international tourism hotspot for dope-smokers, with up to 10 per cent of sales coming from tourists. The revenue would flow from slapping the GST on sales, in addition to a company tax and a 15 per cent cannabis sales tax. However, if a 25 per cent cannabis sales tax were applied, revenue over the decade would rise to $36 billion. Under the plan, Australia would legalise the production and sale of recreational cannabis through a tightly regulated model, and by establishing a Cannabis Australia National Agency (CANA). The cannabis agency would oversee the legalisation and regulation of recreational cannabis, act as the sole wholesaler between producers and retail outlets, and set the wholesale price of cannabis – which would be based initially on the Australian street price of cannabis, and then fluctuate according to market forces. It would also be responsible for issuing production licences to cultivators and sale licences to private retail outlets.