Who needs the Batman when you’ve got the plant, man? Turns out New Yorkers turn to weed in signs of trouble. And fun. And, well, any other signs, as a recent study has just confirmed what many of us New Yorkers already knew—we consume more marijuana than any other city in the world (not-so-humbly patting ourselves on the back). And not just a little more, but almost double that consumed by the nearest runner-up.
The study, conducted by Seedo, which is a company that creates cannabis cultivation systems and often advocates for marijuana legalization, found that 77.44 tons of marijuana were consumed in the city in just the past year alone. That’s almost double the world’s second largest consumer, Karachi, Pakistan, which came in at 41.95 metric tons per year, followed by New Delhi at 36.06. Oh, and in case you were wondering (which we know you were), the U.S. city that came closest to New York was Los Angeles, coming in fourth overall on the list at 36.06 tons.
So how legit are the numbers? Well, the study used a formula that included population numbers combined with data by the United Nations showing the prevalence of drug use to reach its estimations, so while not 100% accurate, it definitely provides a good window into how much cannabis is consumed in some of the world’s largest cities. Still, the real purpose of the research was to demonstrate how much tax revenue cities are leaving behind by failing to legalize the plant, and those amounts are certainly nothing to scoff at.
“This study has revealed some incredible insights into the kind of tax revenue that legalizing weed could generate,” said Seedo CMO Uri Zeevi.
At an estimated cost of $10.76 per gram (crowdsourced from city-level surveys coupled with data from the 2017 World Drug Report), Seedo says that New York City could bring in an additional $156.4 million worth of annual revenue from legalizing and taxing pot at the same rate that it already does cigarettes.
“This is equivalent to providing nearly three months’ worth of free school meals to every single public school kid in New York City,” continued Zeevi. Or better yet, 52.1 million egg-and-cheese sandwiches and 5.8 million Cheesy Gordita Crunches from Taco Bell.
Unfortunately, whether it’s the sandwich or the taco, none of it really matters for now, as New York governor Andrew Cuomo said as recently as January that the state is just starting to study the effects that legalization would have—in other words, it could easily be a couple of more years before any real progress gets made on the issue. But hey, that clearly hasn’t stopped anyone yet.
