With Britain potentially losing £66 billion a year following Brexit, the treasury are looking for new ways to stimulate the British economy.
According to a new report from the Adam Smith Institute and Volteface the Treasury could raise £1 billion each year by decriminalising weed and taxing the shit out of it like they do with cigarettes and beer.
The legislation would also have the added benefit of bringing British drug laws into the 21st Century like other places around the world including several states in the U.S., Canada and Portugal.
Its been reported that a legal cannabis market could be worth up to £6.8 billion a year with an added £1.05 billion in tax revenues and reduced criminal justice costs on top of that.
Added to that is the £50 million a year bill that the tax payer spends keeping the 1,300 people in prison for cannabis-related crimes across England and Wales in jail.
The report’s been backed by former Health Minister Norman Lamb, and former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has also claimed it’s time to rethink current drugs policy.
He told the Press Association:
Cannabis prohibition is being swept away on a tide of popular opinion and replaced with responsible legal regulation.
Now is the time for ministers to start writing the rules for this legal market, including age limits and health warnings, so that we can finally take back control from the criminal gangs.
British politicians need to open their eyes to what is happening in the rest of the world.
Caroline Lucas the leader of the Green party also backed the report saying that the country needs an evidence-based drugs policy, rather than an expensive policy of ineffective prohibition.
The report also claims drug policies in the UK have failed to stop people smoking weed and that improper regulation have actually increased crime across the country.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.