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NZ Drug Foundation CEO Ross Bell expects the tax revenue to be reinvested in cannabis.
“A tax collection for the government that can be reinvested in health and education,” said Bell.
Aucklanders Newshub spoke to those who voted ‘no’ in the referendum and they said they are not swayed by the $ 1 billion figure.
“I don’t care about money, I care about children, I care about the next generation,” said one.
“I don’t think the government should make money from drugs,” said another.
The BERL report also estimates that there could be more than 400 cannabis stores in New Zealand.
Whangarei would be 11, 125 would be located in Auckland, 14 in Hamilton, seven in Gisborne, 27 in Wellington, 25 in Christchurch, nine in Dunedin and two in Queenstown. Another 117 stores would be spread across rural municipalities, bringing the total to 419 stores.
It is also estimated that 120 tons of legal cannabis would be produced each year.
BERL believes that 50 tonnes would be produced by three large growers, up to 60 tonnes by 20 smaller growers, and the remaining 10 tonnes grown by many micro-growers who can grow a maximum of 100 kilograms.
Currently, kiwis consume around 74 tons of cannabis per year, but if legalized, it could skyrocket to 103 tons per year.
There would be an additional 140,000 people using in the short term, but that would decrease over time.
But even if cannabis were legalized, kiwis would still use 20 tons of illegal weed every year. Of this, eight tons would be consumed by minors, those under 20 years of age.
“It’s great that this independent analysis has come out now to inform the voters,” said Bell.
The reports also detail how much profit a cannabis retail store would make: more than half a million dollars a year.
The Justice Ministry wanted to wait until after the referendum to publish the reports. Newshub was asked to emphasize that the reports are views of the BERL and not the government, but will be used by ministers to help create the legal cannabis industry if New Zealanders vote “yes” in the referendum.
