If cannabis were to be regulated and legalised it could create around £1bn in Tax Revenue for the UK economy, according to figures from the Treasury.
The Liberal Democrats, according to their manifesto, would back the legalisation of cannabis.
The Treasury’s report, commissioned before the 2015 election, used research from the University of Essex’s Institute for Social and Economic Research. This was backed up by the evidence from recent legalisation cannabis changes in Colorado, Washington state and Uruguay.
The Lib Dems’ health spokesman Norman Lamb said that the existing system “doing untold harm on health grounds and on justice grounds”.
However, it should be noted by any would-be voters that the Lib Dems would also back a continued Tory-led government, continuing years of austerity with cuts across the board to health, education, and other public services. This also appears to some as a cheap trick in order to win votes considering there is a massive public favouring of cannabis legalisation. It’s unlikely that the Lib Dems would be able to stop Brexit or even implement effective change.
Speaking on Newsnight, political editor Nicholas Watt noted that Ed Davey, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, suggested that the party would vote for Boris Johnson’s deal if he tacks on a Referendum with a Remain option.
Political editor @nicholaswatt says there has been a “clear pivot” in the Lib Dems’ general election campaign today as they downgrade their ambitions.
They are “suggesting they could vote for Boris Johnson’s deal” if he adds on to it a referendum with a Remain option#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/aXDGb6FZdr
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) 20 November 2019
