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on the “weight” of the cigarette. Some people report
that they consume as many as 60 cigarettes
per day, but they are obviously exceptional.
Some limits on the size
of the internal market
for marijuana
If roughly 7.4 percent of the Canadian population
currently uses marijuana, then with 25 million
Canadians aged 15 or over this implies about 1.87
million users. Table 1 puts this consumption into
some kind of numerical perspective. 10 The first
column identifies the number of users based on
estimates of usage described in Single et al. (1999,
Table 5.1) The second column gives an estimate in
metric tons of internal Canadian marijuana consumption.
The third column multiplies this by
price to illustrate the size of the Canadian (con-
PUBLIC POLICY SOURCES, NUMBER 74
sumption) market. This of course does not include
exports. The final column details the
expenditure by Canadians on (legal) tobacco for
the past few years to illustrate the scale of the internal
market.
How large is the industry? Expenditures on illegal
marijuana in Canada are roughly the same order
of magnitude as those on legal tobacco
products. Substantial though these numbers may
be, however, they are not the central issue. Even
as the Government of Canada apparently plans to
reduce the penalty for consumption, most attention
focuses on production for which the external
market in the United States is simultaneously an
economic goldmine and a political landmine. As
the evidence will show, it is obvious that much
of the British Columbia marijuana crop is grown
for export.
Table 1: Estimates of the Internal Canadian Market for Marijuana, 1988-2000
Year Current users
(millions)
Total internal
consumption*
(thousands of
kilograms)
Annual expenditure
on marijuana*
(billions of dollars)
1988 1.38 111.0 1.4
1990 1.10 92.1 1.5
1991 1.11 87.9 1.5
1992 1.13 92.2 1.6
1993 0.96 81.1 1.2
1994 1.71 152.1 2.0
1995 1.73 154.1 1.7
1996 1.75 156.1 1.7
Annual expenditure
on tobacco
(billions of dollars)
1997 1.78 158.2 1.7 2.5
1998 1.80 160.1 1.9 2.5
1999 1.82 162.0 1.7 2.4
2000 1.84 164.1 1.8 2.3
*Table 1A provides upper and lower estimates.
Sources: See Appendix Table 1A.
Appendix BCUC IR1 74.1
10 This table is derived from Appendix table 1A, which details the sources and methods of construction. Table 1 uses the “low”
estimates from table 1A.
The Fraser Institute 7 Marijuana Growth in British Columbia