The hard times of the world economic crisis
In times of the world economic crisis with the pandemic still in place, we are beginning to raise the problem of economic recovery. Many are trying to revive the idea of legalizing cannabis for economic recovery. Although it may seem like a frivolous proposal, it is not really the drug market in Italy. According to the National Antimafia Directorate is worth about 30 billion dollars a year. These are profits that, if legalized, entered the pockets of the state and are no longer mafias. Will be taking power away from the illicit activities of criminal organizations. And will stimulate the creation of profits, jobs, new businesses, and new wealth to circulate throughout the country.
Legalization in Italy – the latest news
Mafias today own most of the very rich legal cannabis market, putting at risk the competition and well-being of Italians with their “long hands”. The current time of the world economic crisis is certainly not the best. The crisis is going through all sectors of the economy. And in such a situation it is precisely criminal organizations that are thriving, reinvesting their illicit profits in legal activities. If we do not do something to intervene, we will end up shopping in shops, dining in restaurants, working and benefiting from services provided largely by organized crime.
What is waiting for us?
Many economists and political scholars are beginning to relaunch the theme of legalizing cannabis for economic recovery. The situation we are experiencing is unprecedented. The loss of GDP for each month of lockdown is around 10% every month. The job losses or inactivity have led to a reduction in consumer demand, and consequently also in supply. Many companies will close in the near future in the absence of state intervention or radical change in current conditions. Here we think of reviving some economic activities previously considered only marginally, but which have an ever-growing turnover. Hence the idea of legalizing cannabis for economic growth. In addition to huge proceeds from the sale and use of cannabis, it is thought that legalizing legal hemp activities may also divert law enforcement employment from the control that is becoming quite costly for the community.
Italian soil
Italian soil is particularly suitable for the outdoor cultivation of Sativa hemp. And it could be more usefully used for such use. While we are currently importing from Albania and Morocco a product that we could easily produce here in Italy. Prohibition has also the effect of “freezing” the productive activity of many entrepreneurs, who thus see their production activity as limited. This results in damage to the whole community.
Legalization in Italy: when?
There are many problems related to illegal activities that revolve around cannabis use. If the prohibitionist choice continues, many unemployed people (there will be more and more thanks to the world economic crisis). Which will be willing to be employed in illegal activities such as drug dealing. There is likely to be an increase in the national labour force relative to foreign labour.
The benefits of legalization
Legalizing cannabis would benefit economic growth in many ways. The state’s tax revenues would increase significantly due to the taxation of this new economic activity. To this revenue must be added those linked to the reduction of expenditure on repression and control by the police. Cannabis is the least dangerous substance among those capable of causing addiction, yet paradoxically it is also the most persecuted. Every year the state squanders a waste of time on trials, arrests and prisons. We are therefore talking about legalization in Italy with hope, on the part of brilliant minds devoted to the economy. This is a courageous but very useful choice for economic recovery in the current world economic crisis. And it would therefore be desirable to make it asap.
Legalization today
Some economists, therefore, propose to legalize cannabis for economic growth, but in a rational way. For example, by placing a “vice” tax equal to 80% of the market price, so as to keep consumption within acceptable levels and to maximize tax revenues. Taxation, in this respect, is as effective as prohibition in order to limit the volume of trade. And it makes it possible to take substantial resources away from organized crime, allowing them to be usefully reinvested in economic growth and recovery.
In the United States, in the last months of 2020, we saw a referendum that made marijuana (for therapeutic purposes) legal in five other states. Why is it not possible for us to think of doing the same? It is a question of making use of resources that are crucial to our economic growth, especially after a period, such as that of the pandemic, which completely destroyed it.
The situation in Italy
Recently, the WHO removed cannabis from the list of drugs. Also in Italy, it is used for therapeutic purposes and is recognized as attending numerous healing properties but it is illegal to cultivate it. In Italy, at least six million people use cannabis for recreational purposes: all proceeds from the use of this substance inevitably end up in the clutches of the underworld, since it is illegal to consume or buy it.
What can mean legalisation for Italy?
Legalizing cannabis in Italy today means giving itself the opportunity to increase the recovery of economic activities, tax revenues, business activities and much more. it could be possible to reinvest the billions stolen from the criminal activity circuit in essential activities such as health, education, and infrastructure. Above all, it is worth insisting that legalizing cannabis for economic growth means, first and foremost, removing a flourishing and profitable activity from the disgraceful and unhealthy circuit of the Mafia and the Camorra. Many left-wing Parliamentarians insist on the need for legalization in Italy today, in order to relaunch employment, and also with a view to greater environmental sustainability, moving crops, among other things, within our country. It is therefore only a question of making a choice in this respect, of taking this courageous and desirable decision for a more rapid economic recovery.