Our economy has been decimated by the Covid-19 pandemic and, needless to say, we have a steep climb ahead to restore our economy. One of the ways in which we can boost growth in the economy is through the legalisation of recreational cannabis. Recreational use is already legal in some countries, like in Canada and Uruguay. The link to the economic crisis is this is a multi-billion-pound industry, through which the government could claim millions if not billions of pounds through VAT, and potentially another tax imposed on top of the VAT. If it is legalised, then the government can regulate it so that there aren‚’t any harmful strains created by black market dealers. In essence, you are destroying a fragment of the black market and heavily disrupting some criminals‚’ income, which might encourage them to be employed legally. The most prominent barrier with recreational use of marijuana is the health effects, such as psychological problems. However, in the argument against the legalisation of recreational marijuana, it is often reminded that it could be a gateway drug to stronger, class A drugs based on the fact that it is a psychoactive agent. However, according to this logic, coffee or tea is the gateway drug as they are also psychoactive agents, but it‚’d be ludicrous to prohibit these on that basis. Another potential reason why it isn‚’t currently legal is because it is a class B drug, which sets a precedent for other class B drugs to be legalised, however, there are no medical uses of class B drugs like ketamine (for humans). There are also more negative externalities of consumption from alcohol and smoking than cannabis. Therefore, we can reboot the economy by taxing a product that isn‚’t being taxed.
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