Weedindex 2018

  1. Overview of cities in the US

  2. Most and least expensive cities(price per gram, USD)

  3. Most potential tax if taxed like cigarettes

  4. Most potential tax if taxed like average US rate

  5. Most and least consumption of cannabis

  6. Full study

  7. Methodology

 

  • With a total of 156, Los Angeles (USA) has the most headshops.
  • Madrid, Spain has the largest amount of growshops, with a total of 68.
  • Tokyo, Japan has the most expensive cannabis, at 32.66 USD per gram, while Quito, Ecuador has the least expensive marijuana, at 1.34 USD per gram.
  • Based on the average US marijuana tax rates currently implemented, New York City could generate the highest potential tax revenue by legalising weed, with 156.40 million USD per year. New York City also has the highest consumption rate of cannabis, at 77.44 metric tons per year.

Results are also available in Euros and British Pounds upon request.


Berlin, Germany, 20/04/2018 – ABCD, a data-driven media campaign outlet, has released new data which reveals the number of marijuana head and growshops in 120 cities around the world. This research, which builds on the 2018 Cannabis Price Index released earlier this year, reveals which locations around the world are ready to embrace cannabis legalisation. The aim of the study is to illustrate the continuous need for legislative reform on cannabis use around the world, and to determine if there are any lessons to be learned from those cities at the forefront of marijuana legalization. By including extra data on the number of head and growshops in each city, this new research can be utilized to indicate which cities are prepared for an imminent cannabis reform, while also highlighting which cities are in opposition of marijuana legalisation.


The initial study began by selecting 120 cities across the world, including locations where cannabis is currently legal, illegal and partially legal, and where marijuana consumption data is available. Then, they looked into the price of weed per gram in each city. To calculate how much potential tax a city could make by legalising weed, ABCD investigated how much tax is paid on the most popular brand of cigarettes, as this offers the closest comparison. They then looked at what percentage marijuana is currently taxed in cities where it’s already legalised in the US.


ABCD decided to conduct the extra research in order to to further the discussion around the medical and recreational use of cannabis, and the potential industry and business opportunities that would follow legalisation. By identifying the number of headshops as well as growshops, this study serves as an indicator to a city’s existing cannabis infrastructure and willingness to accept such reform on a larger scale. As an indicating factor, the more head shops and grow shops a city has, the more positive their state’s and general public’s attitude towards the cannabis-related industry is likely to be.






 

The table below reveals a sample of the results for the 13 US cities featured in the study:

#CityLegalityPrice per gram, US$
Taxes of cigarettes, % of the most sold brandTotal possible tax collection, if taxed at cigarette level, mil US$Total possible tax collection, if taxed at average US marijuana taxes, mil US$Total Consumption in metric tonsNumber of HeadshopsNumber of Growshops
1Washington, DCPartial18.0842.5447.5120.966.18208
2ChicagoPartial11.4642.54119.6152.7724.549110
3PhiladelphiaPartial11.342.5468.3730.1614.22412
4BostonLegal11.0142.5428.5912.616.1494
5New YorkPartial10.7642.54354.48156.477.44597
6DallasPartial10.0342.5451.0122.511.95806
7HoustonPartial10.0342.5489.1339.3220.8912514
8PhoenixPartial9.3542.5458.2625.7114.65729
9MiamiPartial9.2742.5416.247.164.126725
10San FranciscoLegal9.2742.5430.9413.657.85613
11Los AngelesLegal8.1442.54124.8855.136.0615646
12DenverLegal7.7942.5420.539.066.26121
13SeattleLegal7.5842.5420.599.086.394610
 


  

The table below shows the top 10 most and least expensive cities for cannabis:

#CityCountryLegalityPrice per gram, US$
1TokyoJapanIllegal32.66
2SeoulSouth KoreaIllegal32.44
3KyotoJapanIllegal29.65
4Hong KongChinaIllegal27.48
5BangkokThailandPartial24.81
6DublinIrelandIllegal21.63
7TallinnEstoniaPartial20.98
8ShanghaiChinaIllegal20.82
9BeijingChinaIllegal20.52
10OsloNorwayPartial19.14
 

#CityCountryLegalityPrice per gram, US$
1QuitoEcuadorPartial1.34
2BogotaColombiaPartial2.2
3AsuncionParaguayPartial2.22
4JakartaIndonesiaIllegal3.79
5Panama CityPanamaIllegal3.85
6JohannesburgSouth AfricaIllegal4.01
7MontevideoUruguayLegal4.15
8AstanaKazakhstanIllegal4.22
9AntwerpBelgiumPartial4.29
10New DelhiIndiaPartial4.38

N.B. These tables are a sample of the full results. To find the complete results for all 120 cities, please see the bottom of the page.  


  

The table below shows the top 10 cities who could generate the most potential tax by legalising cannabis, if taxed at the same rate as the most popular cigarette brand:

#CityCountryLegalityPrice per gram, US$
Taxes of cigarettes, % of the most sold brandTotal possible tax collection, if taxed at cigarette level, mil US$
1CairoEgyptIllegal16.1573.13384.87
2New YorkUSAPartial10.7642.54354.48
3LondonUKIllegal9.282.16237.35
4SydneyAustraliaPartial10.7956.76138.36
5KarachiPakistanIllegal5.3260.7135.48
6MelbourneAustraliaPartial10.8456.76132.75
7MoscowRussiaPartial11.8447.63128.97
8TorontoCanadaPartial7.8269.8124.15
9ChicagoUSAPartial11.4642.54119.61
10BerlinGermanyPartial13.5372.9114.77

N.B. % of cigarette tax refers to the tax percentage on the most popular brand. Possible tax revenue refers to the total possible tax collection per year, if taxed at cigarette level. For a full explanation of how the study was conducted, please see the methodology at the bottom of the page.    


  

The table below shows the top 10 cities who could generate the most potential tax by legalising cannabis, if taxed at the average US marijuana tax rate:

#CityCountryLegalityPrice per gram, US$
Total possible tax collection, if taxed at average US marijuana taxes, mil US$
1New YorkUSAPartial10.76156.4
2CairoEgyptIllegal16.1598.78
3Los AngelesUSALegal8.1455.1
4LondonUKIllegal9.254.22
5ChicagoUSAPartial11.4652.77
6MoscowRussiaPartial11.8450.82
7SydneyAustraliaPartial10.7945.75
8MelbourneAustraliaPartial10.8443.9
9KarachiPakistanIllegal5.3241.89
10HoustonUSAPartial10.0339.32

N.B. Possible tax revenue refers to the total possible tax collection per year, if taxed at average US marijuana tax rate.  


 

The table below shows the top 10 cities with the highest and lowest consumption of cannabis, per year:

#CityCountryLegalityPrice per gram, US$
Total Consumption in metric tons
1New YorkUSAPartial10.7677.44
2KarachiPakistanIllegal5.3241.95
3New DelhiIndiaPartial4.3838.26
4Los AngelesUSALegal8.1436.06
5CairoEgyptIllegal16.1532.59
6MumbaiIndiaPartial4.5732.38
7LondonUKIllegal9.231.4
8ChicagoUSAPartial11.4624.54
9MoscowRussiaPartial11.8422.87
10TorontoCanadaPartial7.8222.75


#CityCountryLegalityPrice per gram, US$
Total Consumption in metric tons
1SingaporeSingaporeIllegal14.010.02
2Santo DomingoDominican Rep.Illegal6.930.16
3KyotoJapanIllegal29.650.24
4ThessalonikiGreecePartial13.490.29
5Luxembourg CityLuxembourgPartial7.260.32
6Panama CityPanamaIllegal3.850.37
7ReykjavikIcelandIllegal15.920.44
8AsuncionParaguayPartial2.220.46
9ColomboSri LankaIllegal9.120.59
10ManilaPhilippinesIllegal5.240.6

N.B. Total consumption is calculated per annum.  



###  

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Do not hesitate to reply to this email for any further inquiries.

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Please contact contact@abcd.agency for further information.



  

The full results of the 2018 Cannabis Price Index:

#CityCountryLegalityPrice per gram, US$
Taxes of cigarettes, % of the most sold brandTotal possible tax collection, if taxed at cigarette level, mil US$Total possible tax collection, if taxed at average US marijuana taxes, mil US$Total Consumption in metric tonsNumber of HeadshopsNumber of Growshops
1TokyoJapanIllegal32.6664.3632.149.371.5300
2SeoulSouth KoreaIllegal32.4461.9931.619.571.5700
3KyotoJapanIllegal29.6564.364.641.350.2400
4Hong KongChinaIllegal27.4844.4319.728.331.6210
5BangkokThailandPartial24.8173.1399.1125.445.4652
6DublinIrelandIllegal21.6377.829.317.071.7447
7TallinnEstoniaPartial20.9877.2422.135.381.3722
8ShanghaiChinaIllegal20.8244.4349.1220.755.3100
9BeijingChinaIllegal20.5244.4343.118.214.7300
10OsloNorwayPartial19.1468.8319.285.261.4632
11Washington, DCUSAPartial18.0842.5447.5120.966.18208
12CairoEgyptIllegal16.1573.13384.8798.7832.5900
13ReykjavikIcelandIllegal15.9256.43.971.320.4400
14BelfastIrelandIllegal15.8177.813.553.271.132
15MinskBelarusIllegal15.851.159.083.331.1200
16AthensGreecePartial14.9579.957.421.740.6241
17AucklandNew ZealandPartial14.7777.34106.0325.739.2897
18MunichGermanyPartial14.5672.950.913.14.851
19HelsinkiFinlandPartial14.4281.5327.126.242.3136
20SingaporeSingaporeIllegal14.0166.230.140.040.0201
21BerlinGermanyPartial13.5372.9114.7729.5511.643120
22StuttgartGermanyPartial13.572.920.25.22.0530
23ThessalonikiGreecePartial13.4979.953.170.750.2912
24StockholmSwedenIllegal13.268.8415.064.111.6671
25ViennaAustriaPartial12.877459.2115.026.22918
26CopenhagenDenmarkPartial12.4774.7520.655.182.2211
27MoscowRussiaPartial11.8447.63128.9750.8222.8741
28HamburgGermanyPartial11.6472.950.1612.925.9156
29ChicagoUSAPartial11.4642.54119.6152.7724.549110
30PhiladelphiaUSAPartial11.342.5468.3730.1614.22412
31BucharestRomaniaPartial11.1875.4117.234.292.0431
32CologneGermanyPartial11.1472.928.517.343.5182
33GenevaSwitzerlandPartial11.1261.25.91.810.8734
34BostonUSALegal11.0142.5428.5912.616.1494
35AdelaideAustraliaPartial10.9156.7641.613.756.721218
36IstanbulTurkeyPartial10.8782.1321.794.982.4463
37MelbourneAustraliaPartial10.8456.76132.7543.921.581631
38SydneyAustraliaPartial10.7956.76138.3645.7522.592614
39New YorkUSAPartial10.7642.54354.48156.477.44597
40DüsseldorfGermanyPartial10.772.915.824.072.0330
41BrisbaneAustraliaPartial10.6356.7666.8822.1211.092612
42HanoverGermanyPartial10.5172.913.463.471.7631
43PragueCzech Rep.Partial10.4777.4263.9515.57.89255
44FrankfurtGermanyPartial10.2972.918.064.652.4166
45WellingtonNew ZealandPartial10.1177.3419.534.742.542
46DallasUSAPartial10.0342.5451.0122.511.95806
47HoustonUSAPartial10.0342.5489.1339.3220.8912514
48VilniusLithuaniaIllegal1075.765.21.290.6920
49ZurichSwitzerlandPartial9.7161.210.333.171.7446
50MontpellierFranceIllegal9.780.312.212.851.5720
51CanberraAustraliaPartial9.6556.7610.963.63261
52ZagrebCroatiaPartial9.4375.2624.356.073.4348
53NiceFranceIllegal9.480.315.83.692.0910
54PhoenixUSAPartial9.3542.5458.2625.7114.65729
55ParisFranceIllegal9.380.3102.2523.913.6960
56MiamiUSAPartial9.2742.5416.247.164.126725
57San FranciscoUSALegal9.2742.5430.9413.657.85613
58LondonUKIllegal9.282.16237.3554.2231.43523
59ColomboSri LankaIllegal9.1273.783.981.010.5920
60RigaLatviaIllegal976.8910.232.51.4800
61BratislavaSlovakiaIllegal8.9281.547.241.67142
62MilanItalyPartial8.8575.6846.0611.426.8889
63VarnaBulgariaIllegal8.8382.654.841.10.6600
64MarseilleFranceIllegal8.6980.336.238.475.1911
65GlasgowUKIllegal8.6582.1615.213.472.1498
66ToulouseFranceIllegal8.6280.318.674.362.710
67BirminghamUKIllegal8.5882.1627.736.343.93819
68Kuala LumpurMalaysiaIllegal8.5455.366.612.241.400
69MonterreyMexicoPartial8.4565.874.171.190.7531
70EdinburghUKIllegal8.4182.1612.222.791.7785
71LisbonPortugalPartial8.3674.514.691.180.7533
72StrasbourgFranceIllegal8.3580.311.132.61.6600
73WarsawPolandPartial8.3180.2929.276.844.3934
74LyonFranceIllegal8.280.319.454.552.9510
75Los AngelesUSALegal8.1442.54124.8855.136.0615646
76LiverpoolUKIllegal7.9482.1610.862.481.67916
77AmsterdamNetherlandsPartial7.8973.420.945.353.611820
78ManchesterUKIllegal7.8882.1658.9913.489.11713
79RomeItalyPartial7.8675.6888.1621.8614.82815
80TorontoCanadaPartial7.8269.8124.1533.3822.751037
81DenverUSALegal7.7942.5420.539.066.26121
82NaplesItalyPartial7.7575.6829.827.45.0825
83LeedsUKIllegal7.6782.1616.933.872.691411
84SeattleUSALegal7.5842.5420.599.086.394610
85MadridSpainPartial7.4778.0993.422.4516.01868
86CalgaryCanadaPartial7.369.852.2314.0510.25425
87Luxembourg CityLuxembourgPartial7.2670.241.620.430.3211
88San JoseCosta RicaPartial7.2369.767.842.111.5601
89Buenos AiresArgentinaPartial7.1369.8425.326.815.092248
90BrusselsBelgiumPartial7.0975.9215.53.832.88212
91Santo DomingoDominican Rep.Illegal6.9358.870.670.210.1610
92GrazAustriaPartial6.84744.811.220.9572
93BudapestHungaryIllegal6.7477.267.71.871.4843
94SofiaBulgariaIllegal6.6682.6512.832.912.3300
95OttawaCanadaPartial6.6269.835.439.537.67306
96VancouverCanadaPartial6.469.823.446.35.253510
97Sao PauloBrazilPartial6.3864.9468.5519.8116.55117
98RotterdamNetherlandsPartial6.3373.412.753.262.7438
99LjubljanaSloveniaPartial6.3280.413.430.80.6746
100BarcelonaSpainPartial6.2378.0939.599.518.142223
101MontrealCanadaPartial6.1569.860.5216.2714.1139
102KievUkrainePartial674.7814.733.73.2810
103AbujaNigeriaIllegal5.8820.637.46.736.100
104LimaPeruPartial5.8837.8312.286.095.5240
105Mexico CityMexicoPartial5.8765.8722.586.435.8465
106Cape TownSouth AfricaIllegal5.8248.82.470.950.87124
107KarachiPakistanIllegal5.3260.7135.4841.8941.9500
108ManilaPhilippinesIllegal5.2474.272.320.590.601
109Rio de JaneiroBrazilPartial5.1164.9428.828.338.69142
110MumbaiIndiaPartial4.5760.3989.3827.7832.3851
111New DelhiIndiaPartial4.3860.39101.231.4538.2632
112AntwerpBelgiumPartial4.2975.924.11.011.2673
113AstanaKazakhstanIllegal4.2239.291.780.851.0700
114MontevideoUruguayLegal4.1566.7519.545.57.06118
115JohannesburgSouth AfricaIllegal4.0148.83.761.451.9254
116Panama CityPanamaIllegal3.8556.520.810.270.3730
117JakartaIndonesiaIllegal3.7953.41.920.680.9500
118AsuncionParaguayPartial2.22160.160.190.4611
119BogotaColombiaPartial2.249.4415.8614.5363
120QuitoEcuadorPartial1.3470.390.560.150.610
   


Further findings:
  • New York City, USA has the highest consumption rate of cannabis, at 77.44 metric tons per year.
  • Boston, USA has the most expensive cannabis of all the cities where it’s legal, at 11.01 USD, while Montevideo, Uruguay has the least expensive at 4.15 USD.
  • While Tokyo, Japan has the most expensive cannabis of all cities where it’s illegal, at 32.66 USD, Jakarta, Indonesia has the least expensive at 3.79 USD, despite being classed as a Group 1 drug with harsh sentences such as life imprisonment and the death penalty.
  • For cities where cannabis is partially legal, Bangkok, Thailand has the most expensive at 24.81 USD, while Quito, Ecuador has the least expensive at 1.34 USD.
  • Bulgaria has the highest tax rates for the most popular brand of cigarettes, at 82.65%, while Paraguay has the lowest, with rates of 16%.
  • Cairo, Egypt would gain the most revenue in tax if they were to legalise cannabis and tax it as the same rate as cigarettes, at 384.87 million USD. Singapore, Singapore would gain the least, at 0.14 million USD, due in part to the city’s low consumption of marijuana at 0.02 metric tons per annum.
  • Based on the average US marijuana tax rates currently implemented, New York City could generate the highest potential tax revenue by legalising weed, with 156.4 million USD per year. Singapore, Singapore would gain the least, at 0.04 million USD.


 
Methodology  


Selection of the cities: To select the cities for the study, Weedindex.io first looked at the top and bottom cannabis consuming countries around the world. Then they analysed nations where marijuana is partially or completely legal, as well as illegal, and selected the final list of 120 cities in order to best offer a representative comparison of the global cannabis price.    

Data:  
  • The Number of head- ans growshops per city has been researched from the Google Maps Search Results.
  • Price per gram, US$ – Crowdsourced city-level surveys adjusted to World Drug Report 2017 of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
 
  • Taxes on Cigarettes, % of the most sold brand – Taxes as a percentage of the retail price of the most sold brand (total tax). Source: Appendix 2 of the WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic, 2015.
   
  • Annual possible tax collection is calculated in the following way:
 
  • Total_Possible_Tax=Population_City*Prevalence*Avg_Consumption_year_gr*price*tax_level, where:
  • Population: latest available local population data sources.
  • Annual Prevalence (percentage of population, having used weed in the year). Source: World Drug Report 2017 of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
  • Average Consumption of weed per year in grams (people who consumed weed at least once in the previous year).
  • Estimation, with the assumption, that one use of weed on average means one joint.
  • One joint is assumed to have 0.66 grams of weed as in the paper of Mariani, Brooks, Haney and Levin (2010).
  • The distribution of use during the year is assumed to be the same as in Zhao and Harris (2004), where the yearly usage varies from once or twice a year to everyday.
   
  • Total Consumption in Tons
 
  • Consumption=Population*Prevalence*Consumption_year_gr
  • Population: latest available local population data sources.
  • Annual Prevalence (percentage of population, having used weed in the year). Source: World Drug Report 2017 of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
  • Average Consumption of weed per year in grams (people who consumed weed at least once in the previous year).
  • Estimation, with the assumption, that one use of weed on average means one joint.
  • One joint is assumed to have 0.66 grams of weed as in the paper of Mariani, Brooks, Haney and Levin (2010).
  • The distribution of use during the year is assumed to be the same as in Zhao and Harris (2004), where the yearly usage varies from once or twice a year to everyday.
   
  • US tax level – Average tax level in the states of US where weed is legal: Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Includes retail sales taxes, state taxes, local taxes and excise taxes.
     
  • Legality
 
    • Legal, if possession and selling for recreational and medical use is legal.
    • Illegal, if possession and selling for recreational and medical use is illegal.
    • Partial, if
      • Possession of small amounts is decriminalised (criminal penalties lessened, fines and regulated permits may still apply)
      • OR medicinal use legal
      • OR possession is legal, selling illegal
      • OR scientific use legal
      • OR usage allowed in restricted areas (e.g. homes or coffee shops)
      • OR local laws may apply to legality (e.g. illegal at federal level, legal at state level)
  First quote: Based on New York City Council’s free lunch initiative which began in September 2017, with 1.1 million public school children, at a cost of $1.75 per child per day.