The economic and social benefits and costs of legalising recreational cannabis in Queensland: A preliminary examination

Cannabis has been consumed in Queensland in large amounts for many decades. However, consuming cannabis for recreational purposes is currently illegal. Queensland has the highest number of cannabis related arrests of any Australian state or territory, including for the past 15 years, with 23,850 arrests made in 2014-15. This puts it at odds with US states like Colorado where consumers have been able to purchase recreational cannabis products from licenced premises operating in a regulated and taxed market environment since January 2014.

An increasing number of countries and states are taking a more health-focused and less justicefocused approach to cannabis regulation on the back of the well documented failed ‘war on drugs’ by either decriminalising recreational cannabis use or legalising it by adopting ‘regulate and tax’ schemes. This approach recognises that cannabis is a commonly used drug with a broad level of acceptance in many communities. The United Nations World Drug Report estimates that in 2013 there were 181.8 million users of cannabis worldwide, with the usage rate in North America for those aged 15 to 64 being 11.6 per cent with a similar level of 10.7 per cent for the Oceania region (Australia/New Zealand). Queensland has a usage rate of around 11 per cent for persons aged 14 and over which despite the increasingly high number of arrests since 2001 has not declined.

We undertook a preliminary examination of the main, likely economic and social benefits and costs of a Queensland recreational cannabis market (QRCM) by using data collected by government agencies as well as drawing on data from the Colorado Department of Revenue. We find that both the state government and cannabis consumers would realise a significant net benefit under a regulated and taxed recreational cannabis scheme.

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