The first option would establish the creation of the Cannabis National Agency (CANA). The agency would act as the only wholesaler between producers and retailers. They will issue licenses to potential cannabis business owners and will set wholesale prices on cannabis. The plan is that the agency would be funded completely through the fees required to apply for production and retail licenses.
This option would legalize cannabis for anyone 18 and older, specifically with no restriction on the amount that an individual can purchase. It would also create penalties for selling to underage individuals, which is similar to how the country manages sale of alcohol to minors. Recreational cannabis would be available to “oversea visitors,” and residents would be allowed to cultivate up to six plants. Recreational sales would “attract the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as well as an excise of 25% on GST-inclusive sales.”
The second option contains all provisions from the first option, except for the final recommendation, which would change the excise tax to 15% instead of 25%. The PBO projects that the country could collect up to AU$28 billion in cannabis tax revenue during the first decade of legalization.
The New Zealand Herald, Sen. Shoebridge suggested that the tax revenue could also be used to raise rates provided by JobSeeker, the government’s job finding service, and raise financial aid provided by the job service Youth Allowance. He also suggested that cannabis tax revenue could help build more than 88,000 public housing units in the next decade, which could give more than 250,000 people a home.
“Legal cannabis makes enormous social and economic sense. When we legalise cannabis we take billions away from organised crime, police and the criminal justice system and we can then spend it on schools, housing, hospitals and social support,” Shoebridge explained.
If the PBO’s plans are accepted, commercial cultivation could start in July 2023. Applications for production and retail licenses could begin as early as 2023 or 2024, with an expectation of launching sales by 2024 or 2025.
Photo by Alesia Kozik
