As confirmed by the new reports of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) organization, since 2014: the year in which the sale of authorized cannabis began in Colorado and Washington State, the taxes deriving from the regulated market have exceeded 15 billion dollars.
Cannabis in the USA: 15 billion dollars in taxes
“These new revenue streams are helping to fund services and social programs across the country, such as education, alcohol and drug treatment, veterans services, job training, and reinvestment in communities that have been disproportionately affected by the war on cannabis,” he told the Marijuana Moment Toi Hutchinson: President and CEO of MPP.
I benefits resulting from the regulation of cannabis in fact they go far beyond the economic factor. I citizens they are the first beneficiaries of this maneuver, who, with legalization, are no longer unjustly criminalized, they have more job opportunities: they are 100 thousand new jobs estimated for 2023 in the American cannabis sector, and, as confirmed by Hutchinson, money from the green industry supports many socially useful initiatives.
Money that would also be very useful in our peninsula. In fact, according to some estimates, the legalization of cannabis in Italy would be worth a tax revenue of approximately 6 billion of euros.
| For further information: "10 billion euros a year, the value of legalization in Italy"
USA: revenue from cannabis drops
However, even as the number of states favoring regulation over prohibition steadily grows, 2022 was the first year that tax revenue fell. decrease compared to the previous year. From over 3.86 billion in 2021 to 3.77 billion recorded in 2022. But why?
There are two main reasons:
- Authorized dispensaries have (obviously) higher maintenance costs than the black market, which, not being taxed, can guarantee products at lower prices. Which is why consumers often choose illicit trafficking to save money
- States with more "mature" laws recorded lower tax revenue than States with “younger” laws, with revenue increasing compared to previous years
This shows that, contrary to prohibitionist theses, the Legalizing cannabis does not increase cannabis consumptionIn fact, it could even reduce it.
