マリファナは将来性あるビジネス? ワシントン州の1年売り上げは...

2014年7月8日に嗜好用マリファナの使用と認可店での販売を合法化したワシントン州で、この1年での収益がまとめられた。その報告書から、少なくとも収益の面ではマリファナが良い結果を残していることが分かる。
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FILE - In this Sept. 18, 2012, file photo a caregiver picks out a marijuana bud for a patient at a marijuana dispensary in Denver. The Department of Revenue has posted its first full year of pot tax data for 2014 on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski, File)
ASSOCIATED PRESS

アメリカではマリファナを合法化する州が増えているが、果たして合法化は州にとってよい影響をもたらしているのだろうか?

2014年7月8日に嗜好用マリファナの使用と認可店での販売を合法化したワシントン州で、この1年のマリファナの収益がまとめられたが、その報告書から少なくとも収益の面ではマリファナが良い結果を残していることが分かる。

この報告をまとめたのは、ワシントン州のマリファナ産業を監視する政府機関「ワシントン州酒類管理委員会」だ。報告によれば、2015年の7月1日までの1年間に、ワシントン州のマリファナ認可店が売り上げた額は2億5700万ドル(約314億円)だった。

そのうち、マリファナ税は6400万ドル(約78億円)で、それに地方消費税やほかの税を加えると、ワシントン州と地方自治体は7000万ドル(約85億円)以上の税収を得ることになる、とAP通信は伝えている

マリファナ解禁前の税収見込みは3600万ドル(44億円)だったので、見込みのおよそ2倍の税収を得たことになる。

マリファナ推進団体「マリファナ・マジョリティー」のトム・エンジェル議長は、「このお金を教育や医療、道路の補修工事などに充てることができます。しかもこのお金は、合法化前には麻薬ディーラーの懐に入っていたお金です」と話す。

またエンジェル議長は、「これはまだ1年目の税収であり、今後数年間でもっと多くの税収と雇用創出が期待できます」とも話している。

以下のグラフは、ワシントン州の昨年1年間のマリファナの売り上げ額と税収をまとめたものだ。

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2014年7月〜2015年7月までのマリファナの売り上げ額(緑の棒グラフ)と税収(紫の棒グラフ)。売り上げと税収が順調に伸びていることがわかる。

また、ワシントン州酒類管理委員会によると、2015年7月1日現在ワシントン州では約160の認可店が営業しており、1日あたりの総売上額は150万ドル(約1億8000万円)近くになるという。

下のグラフは、ワシントン州の1日あたりの平均売上額の推移をまとめている。

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2014年7月〜2015年7月までの1日のマリファナ平均売上額

この一年で、ワシントン州ではマリファナ2万2000ポンド以上(約1000キログラム)とマリファナ入りの食品・飲料70万点が販売された

また、ワシントン州の栽培業者が収穫したマリファナの花は6万ポンド(約2万7000キログラム)近くだった。酒類管理委員会の広報担当ブライアン・スミス氏が提供してくれたデータによれば、これまでに600万平方フィート(東京ドーム約11個分)を超える面積にマリファナ栽培の許可が降りている。

アメリカの連邦法の下ではマリファナはまだ違法だが、これまでに、ワシントン州に加え、コロラド州、オレゴン州、アラスカ州、それにワシントンD.C.が、嗜好用マリファナを合法化している。合法化の流れが全50州に広がれば、マリファナ産業は、アメリカでオーガニック食料品産業を超える可能性がある。

この記事はハフポストUS版に掲載されたものを翻訳しました。

[日本語版:遠藤康子/ガリレオ]

大麻使用経験のある有名人
50: Snoop Lion(01 of49)
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“It makes me feel the way I need to feel.” (credit:Koen van Weel/AFP/Getty Images)
49: Rick Steves(02 of49)
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\"I have used cannabis all over the world.\" (credit:AP)
48: Oliver Stone(03 of49)
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“I went to Vietnam, and I was there for a long time. [Using marijuana] made the difference between staying human or, as Michael Douglas said, becoming a beast.” (credit:YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images)
47: Rihanna(04 of49)
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\"Kush rolled, glass full... I prefer the better things!\" (credit:VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images)
46: Hugh Hefner(05 of49)
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“Smoking helped put me in touch with the realm of the senses.” (credit:Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Playboy)
45: Miley Cyrus(06 of49)
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\"You know you\'re a stoner when your friends make you a Bob Marley cake.\" (credit:AP Photo/MTV, John Shearer)
43: Robert Downey Jr(07 of49)
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“Robert Downey Jr. said he started smoking weed at age 8.” (credit:Joel Ryan/Invision/AP, file)
42: Madonna(08 of49)
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\"It [my behavior on the show in 1994] wasn\'t because I was excited about you [David Letterman]. I think it may have had something to do with the joint I smoked before I came on.\" (credit:AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
41: Johnny Depp(09 of49)
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\"I\'m not a great pothead or anything like that… but weed is much, much less dangerous than alcohol.\" (credit:AP)
40: Phil Jackson(10 of49)
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In 1975 he wrote “Maverick,” a memoir about his days playing in the NBA. Among other things, Jackson spoke frankly about marijuana use. -- Salon (credit:Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
39: Sarah Palin(11 of49)
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\"I can\'t claim a Bill Clinton and say that I never inhaled.” (credit:AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
38: Justin Bieber(12 of49)
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\"Bieber both confirmed that he\'d been caught smoking weed and apologized for it.\" -- Huffington Post (credit:AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
37: Maya Angelou(13 of49)
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“Angelou settled into a job as a waitress and began smoking marijuana with abandon.” (credit:AP Photo/Nell Redmond, file)
36: Lincoln Chafee(14 of49)
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\"In 1999, then-Warwick Mayor Lincoln D. Chafee won accolades for his honesty in acknowledging he used marijuana and cocaine as a 1970s student at Brown University.\" (credit:AP Photo/Michelle R. Smith)
35: Matt Damon(15 of49)
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“The first time I smoked was at home with my mother and step-father.” (credit:AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File))
34: Conan O'Brien(16 of49)
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“I’ve tried pot, but it doesn’t do much for me.” (credit:Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
33: Susan Sarandon(17 of49)
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\"Cocaine didn\'t interest me. Not at all. I\'m way way back in the early pot…\" (credit:Larry Busacca/Getty Images)
32: Andrew Sullivan(18 of49)
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\"The blogger and commentator Andrew Sullivan was busted in July for possessing a small amount of marijuana within the Cape Cod National Seashore.\" (credit:Peter Kramer/Getty Images for TFF))
31: John Hickenlooper(19 of49)
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\"As I\'ve already been open about in the past -- and as I assume many would expect -- I made personal choices when I was younger that I neither support nor condone for others and certainly wouldn\'t encourage through public policy.\" (credit:David Cannon/Getty Images)
30: Seth MacFarlane(20 of49)
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\"I don\'t smoke much pot anymore.\" (credit:AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
29: Martha Stewart(21 of49)
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\"Of course I know how to roll a joint.\" (credit:Getty Images)
28: Angelina Jolie(22 of49)
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“… the one that has the worst effect for me was pot. I felt silly and giggly - I hate feeling like that.” (credit:TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty Images)
27: Morgan Freeman(23 of49)
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\"Never give up the ganja.\" (credit:Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for AFI)
26: David Letterman(24 of49)
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“I went through one period when I smoked a surprising, a really breath-taking, amount of grass almost every night.” (credit:AP Photo/CBS, John Paul Filo)
25: Jennifer Aniston(25 of49)
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“I enjoy it once in a while. There is nothing wrong with that. Everything in moderation. I wouldn\'t call myself a pot-head.” (credit: Arthur Mola/Invision/AP)
24: Michael Phelps(26 of49)
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“[Phelps] firmly denies that he takes drugs, suggesting that the notorious photo of him smoking from a bong was a one-time lapse of judgment.” (credit:Al Bello/Getty Images)
23: Tom Brokaw(27 of49)
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“…what I did was experiment with a little marijuana like a lot of other people and walked away…” (credit:Kris Connor/Getty Images)
22: Ted Turner(28 of49)
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\"CNN anchor Gwen Scott claimed it is common knowledge that Turner sits in his office and smokes marijuana.\" (credit:Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
21: Brad Pitt(29 of49)
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“I was hiding out from the celebrity thing, I was smoking way too much [marijuana].” (credit:Todd Williamson/Invision for Fox Searchlight/AP Images)
20: Lady Gaga(30 of49)
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\"I smoke a lot of pot when I write music.\" (credit:D Dipasupil/Getty Images for The Daily Front Row)
19: Michael Bloomberg(31 of49)
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\"You bet I did. And I enjoyed it.\'\' (credit:Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)
18: George Clooney(32 of49)
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“The owner of a local cannabis café told reporters George Clooney was no stranger there.” (credit:AP Photo/David Azia)
17: Rush Limbaugh(33 of49)
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Rush Limbaugh admits that he used cannabis during his recovery from opiate addiction and says that the legalization of marijuana is \"a great issue\" for the GOP. (credit:AP Photo/Chris Carlson, file)
16: LeBron James(34 of49)
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“James also revealed he and his teammates smoked marijuana one night after getting access to a hotel room in Akron.” (credit:AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
15: Sanjay Gupta(35 of49)
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\"I have tried it.\" (credit:Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
14: Rand Paul(36 of49)
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\"According to this woman, who requested anonymity because of her current job as a clinical psychologist, \"He and Randy came to my house, they knocked on my door, and then they blindfolded me, tied me up, and put me in their car. They took me to their apartment and tried to force me to take bong hits. They\'d been smoking pot.\" (credit:AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
13: Andrew Cuomo(37 of49)
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\"I did experiment with marijuana when I was a youth.\" (credit:Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
12: George W. Bush(38 of49)
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\"I wouldn\'t answer the marijuana questions. You know why? Because I don\'t want some little kid doing what I tried.\" (credit:AP Photo/LM Otero)
11: Bill Gates(39 of49)
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“As for drugs – well, Gates was certainly not unusual there. Marijuana was the pharmaceutical of choice…” (credit:AP Photo / Jonathan Brady)
10: Bill Maher(40 of49)
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\"Look, I have never made a secret of the fact that I have tried marijuana... About 50,000 times.\" (credit:AP Photo/HBO, Janet Van Ham)
9: George Soros(41 of49)
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\"He said he had tried marijuana, enjoyed it, \'but it did not become a habit and I have not tasted it in many years.\'\" (credit:ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)
8: John Kerry(42 of49)
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\"Yes.\" [In response to the question: \"Which of you are ready to admit to having used marijuana in the past?\"] (credit:AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
7: Jay Z(43 of49)
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\"I smoked some weed, and that’s how I finished ‘Izzo.’\" (credit:Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
6: Jon Stewart(44 of49)
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“Do you know how many movies I wrote when I was high?” (credit:Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
5: Stephen Colbert(45 of49)
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\"First, [in high school], I smoked a lot of pot...and that’s how I got to know the people ‘half in’ the society of my high school and we waved at each other over the bong. Then I got to know people by making jokes.” (credit:AP Photo/Comedy Central, Scott Gries)
4: Clarence Thomas(46 of49)
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\"The White House said today that Judge Clarence Thomas, President Bush\'s Supreme Court nominee, had smoked marijuana while in college.\" (credit:AP Photo/Tribune Review, Sidney Davis)
3: Bill Clinton(47 of49)
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\"I experimented with marijuana a time or two.\" (credit:STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images)
2: Oprah Winfrey(48 of49)
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\"To kick things off, [television show host Andy Cohen] asked the last time Winfrey had smoked marijuana. \'Uh … 1982,\' Winfrey replied. \'Let\'s hang out after the show,\' Cohen joked. \'Okay,\' Winfrey laughed. \'I hear it\'s gotten better.\'\" (credit:Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
1: Barack Obama(49 of49)
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\"When I was a kid, I inhaled frequently. That was the point.\" (credit:Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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