Australia: Legalising cannabis 'could stop recession'

In July, Oakland City Council voted overwhelmingly to tax the city's medical marijuana dispensaries to increase its profits.

At the time of the vote the city faced an $US83 million budget shortfall, and expected the marijuana tax to raise $315,000, according to the report.

The city auditor projected the tax would ring up to $17.5 million in sales.

Richard Lee, Head of Oaksterdam University, the US's first cannabis college, told Sky News the rest of California could follow suit.

He estimates the Californian cannabis industry is worth around "$15 billion, so just the 10-percent sales tax alone would be one and a half billion dollars."

However Special Agent Bob Cook from the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement doubts the tax collected would offset the damage he thinks may be caused from the use of the drug.

He points to people who are now ill from smoking tobacco, now in hospital.

"We're not making enough money now to care for all these people who are in hospitals who have developed emphysema, lung disease, throat cancer, circulation issues..who's going to pay for all of that?" Cook told Sky News.

Advocates of marijuana in the state of California have started their push to get a marijuana legalisation measure on California's 2010 ballot.

Supporters of the Tax Cannabis 2010 campaign need nearly 434,000 signatures to make the November 2010 ballot.

Under the proposal, adults 21 and older could legally possess up to an ounce of pot.

Homeowners could grow limited amounts, and local governments would decide whether to allow pot sales.

Supporters argue taxes levied on marijuana sales could help strapped cities weather revenue shortfalls caused by the recession and California's budget crisis.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1109281/Legalising-cannabis-could-stop-recession

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