New study shows federal cannabis legalization could create 1 million new jobs

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A new analysis found that legalizing cannabis on the federal level would lead to more than $130 million in tax revenue as well as over 1 million new jobs by 2025.

New Frontier Data, a research and marketing firm, published the new findings after “rigorous, issue-neutral and comprehensive analysis of the legal cannabis industry,” the website states.

The Drug Policy alliance states the government spends over $50 billion dollars every year for keeping cannabis and other drugs illegal, and incarcerating millions of people for drug-related offenses. In 2016, out of all arrests made for cannabis-related offenses, 89 percent or 574,641 people were arrested merely for possession. Cannabis prohibition is leading to more money spent on federal government’s behalf and higher incarceration rates.

The study indicates ending the war on drugs, or cannabis at least, would improve the economy and add numerous jobs. CEO of New Frontier Data Giadha Aguirre De Carcer claims that after correctly taxing cannabis businesses, the federal government would make a lot of profit from cannabis businesses as shown previously in the state of Washington and Colorado.

“The three most common business taxes that any standard business pays to the federal government are federal business taxes, payroll taxes and sales taxes,” De Carcer explained. “If cannabis businesses were legalized tomorrow and taxed as normal businesses with a standard 35% tax rate, cannabis businesses would infuse the U.S. economy with an additional $12.6 billion this year,” CEO De Carcer said.

In 2016, the state of Colorado alone made $200 million in tax revenue, all thanks to its $1.3 billion total revenue in cannabis sales. So if the government legalized cannabis on federal level; $12.6 billion of tax revenue would be made in 2018 alone.

By combining all three taxes one pays to the federal government: “The business tax revenues, the payroll withholdings based on the theoretical employment required to support the industry, and the 15% retail sales tax, one can calculate the total federal tax revenue potential of legalization: The combined total is estimated to be $131.8 billion,” Common Dreams website suggests.

Though federal legalization of cannabis might seem like an idea of the far future at first, at least 20 percent of the US population lives in a state where cannabis is legal for social use. So, the idea doesn’t seem too far-fetched either.

With more and more Americans warming up to the idea of cannabis, let’s see what the future holds for cannabis federally. In October of 2017, a Gallup survey found that 64 percent of Americans now favor legal cannabis — the highest level ever recorded.