Legalising cannabis would raise “notable tax revenue” and “lead to overall savings to public services”, an internal-Treasury report has concluded.
The leaked paper concluded changing the law on the drug would bring around £500m to £800m in taxes as well as lead to significant savings in policing costs.
MPs debated the issue on Monday, after a petition calling for legalisation drew more than 220,000 signatures. They do not plan to alter the law.
The internal report was commissioned by former deputy prime minister and ex-Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, who favours a more relaxed drugs policy.
The study uses research by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), which calculates the Treasury could make between £500 million and £800 million (US$762 million and $1.22 billion) were the drug regulated in a similar way to tobacco.
The study – which was set up to examine the “potential fiscal impacts of introducing a regulated cannabis market in the UK” – states that 216 tonnes of cannabis was smoked in the UK in the past year and that 2.2 million people aged 16 to 59 are thought to have used the drug in that time.
Cannabis is currently a class B illegal drug, though it was placed in class C (for drugs deemed less harmful) between 2004 and 2009, removing the threat of arrest for possession. The drug was returned to class B with the then prime minister, Gordon Brown, warning of the “more lethal quality” of much of the cannabis that had become available.
The Conservatives have laid down a hardline drugs policy, implementing a strict ban on so-called legal highs.
But Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Norman Lamb told the Independent the report should prompt a change in Tory policy.
“This is an important contribution to the wider debate on drugs reform and shows the UK could make savings in public spending and generate notable tax revenues from a regulated cannabis market, probably in the hundreds of millions of pounds, some of which could be spent on better education around the dangers of drugs use,” he said.
“There are successful cannabis markets emerging in different parts of the world and we should look to learn from these experiences. The burden is now with supporters of the status quo to explain why prohibition should continue,” he added.