In our latest installment of The Big Picture we're looking at the potential economic benefits of legalising cannabis in New Zealand.
To get an idea of the potential economic windfalls we look at the U.S. State of Colorado, which has a similar population to New Zealand and has been selling cannabis legally since 2014.
Colorado's marijuana industry has generated more than $1 billion U.S. dollars in tax revenue during the first five years since legalizing cannabis.
It's also created more than 40,000 jobs.
So what could that look like here?
Research shows the country could earn $240m p.a in tax from legal cannabis sales alone and save the justice sector as much as $13 million a year for prosecuting for cannabis possession and supply offenses.
Kiwi dairy farmer turned cannabis seller John Lord lives in Colorado and says thousands of jobs could be created if the drug is legalised.
Lord spoke spoke to The AM Show.
Watch the video.
