The German Treasury will enter more than 4.7 billion euros with the total decriminalization of the drug
The parties negotiating the new governing alliance in Berlin – Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and Liberals (FDP) – will legalize the sale of cannabis for recreational use in Germany. This resolution has been reached by the working group of the Health area that negotiates the coalition agreement between the three formations, according to several national media today. “We will introduce the controlled sale of cannabis for adults in licensed businesses,” says the draft of the document that the tripartite hopes to sign before the end of the month. Germany will thus become the third country in the world to legalize the sale and consumption of marijuana and hashish for recreational purposes after Uruguay and Canada. In the United States, it is authorized in 10 of its 50 states. The government coalition under the orders of the future federal chancellor, the social democrat Olaf Scholz, intends with the authorized sale of cannabis to control its quality, prevent the product from containing impure substances and protect minors.
The legalization of the drug also carries significant tax revenues. More than 4.7 billion additional euros per year could enter the German treasury, according to a recent study by economist Justus Haucap of the Institute for Competition Economics in Düsseldorf. The calculation includes not only the income from taxes on the product, new employment contracts and business fees, but also the savings that the end of the prosecution of crimes related to the sale and purchase of cannabis supposes for justice and police. The simple tax on cannabis, on the basis of the one already applied to alcohol and tobacco, would flow to the state coffers about 1.8 billion euros per year. The study details that the legalization of this drug would bring about the creation of some 27,000 jobs in production, processing and sale that would generate another 526 million euros from the income from labor contracts for social security. It would also mean a saving of at least 1,400 million euros for the justice, police and prisons by ending the prosecution of crimes related to cannabis.
Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals also want to expand the models for so-called “drugcheking” and measures to limit the damage caused by the use of other harder drugs. With drugcheking, those who consume illegal drugs will be able to verify the composition of the purchased product to be alerted to especially dangerous ingredients. The tripartite also intends to tighten the regulations on advertising, marketing and sponsorship for alcohol, tobacco and cannabis. “We will permanently adapt the regulation to the results of the most recent scientific research and we will take measures for the good of health,” says the point of the draft coalition that has already been agreed by the negotiating group. The three parties had defended in their respective electoral programs for the legislative elections of last September the legalization of cannabis for recreational use. Until now it is only marketed in Germany for medicinal purposes and its legal sale takes place exclusively in pharmacies with a prescription.
The arguments of social democrats, greens and liberals to justify the legalization of the consumption of this plant and its derivatives are practically the same and have nothing to do with the beneficial financial effects for the German treasury. The three groups agree that with the controlled sale of marijuana and hashish it is possible to end the illegal black market and the crime related to it, better protect minors and an effective prevention of addiction is possible. They also consider it a mistake to criminalize the millions of cannabis users living in Germany.
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