Do your bit for the economy.

[BrilloPad]

BBC News - Small Data: The way drugs and prostitution boost the economy

Drugs and prostitution. You don't want to - but think of the economic benefits for the country.

[petergriffin]

This is way here in NL you're allowed (and encouraged) to grow up to 6 cannabis plants and then you can sell the weed to the authorized coffeshops. I wish I had more space.

[The Spartan]

I've often wondered why the Government have not decided to cash in on cannabis, by selling it to the public imagine the revenue they could make from it plus the extra 20% in VAT

[petergriffin]

I've often wondered why the Government have not decided to cash in on cannabis, by selling it to the public imagine the revenue they could make from it plus the extra 20% in VAT

Because it's not politically convenient. It's always easier to blame the junkies (and the immigrants and the poor) for all problems than to act on the real problems.

[MyUserName]

Because it's not politically convenient. It's always easier to blame the junkies (and the immigrants and the poor) for all problems than to act on the real problems.

One of my mates explained that it is because cannabis is an effective treatment for many ailments and so that pharm companies block it becoming legalised or accepted medical practice.

[VectraMan]

I've often wondered why the Government have not decided to cash in on cannabis, by selling it to the public imagine the revenue they could make from it plus the extra 20% in VAT

I wonder if now that quite a few American states are decriminalising cannabis whether the UK will follow. It's easy to dismiss those crazy Dutch, but a lot of our attitudes are influenced by the good old US of A.

[SimonMac]

One of my mates explained that it is because cannabis is an effective treatment for many ailments and so that pharm companies block it becoming legalised or accepted medical practice.

I guess there is a bit of lobbying from the Pharma companies, but the fact of the matter is that its better politically to be seen to be anti drugs than pro drugs

[xoggoth]

No problem with prostitution but the association of cannabis use with psychosis is fairly strong. Encouraging greater use by legalising it is probably not desirable.

If growing cannabis is a plus, what about other crimes like people trafficking, making counterfeit booze, importing and selling counterfeit goods? Much crime is a lucrative business that provides employment for somebody and some brings value into the UK economy, maybe we should count all crime in our GDP .We ignore any downsides of course.

Typical EU.

[OwlHoot]

If growing cannabis is a plus, what about other crimes like people trafficking, making counterfeit booze, importing and selling counterfeit goods? Much crime is a lucrative business that provides employment for somebody and some brings value into the UK economy, maybe we should count all crime in our GDP .We ignore any downsides of course.

Typical EU.

Exactly. That's the point - It's a huge perverse incentive for Governments to condone all kinds of illegal activity to boost their GDP!

From the article:

... The European Union has declared that illegal activities need to be included in national accounts so that comparisons can be made between countries. ...

[xoggoth]

One has to query one other thing. By its very nature, how the hell can such a figure be accurate?

Only known offences could be included and anything else would be a guess. International comparisons of crime are notoriously unreliable due to the different way offences are defined, the ability of the police to detect and different tolerances when deciding when to prosecute.

So the EU will publish and enforce guidelines to make any of this practical. Effectively the EU will be running our police and justice systems too.