Medical marijuana. Photo: Coaster420/Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Marijuana legalization could add more than NIS 1.6 billion ($450 million) to the Israeli economy in taxes and savings, according to a study by the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies (JIMS), an independent non-profit economic policy think tank.

According to the study, legalization would save the state NIS 700 million ($198 million) in enforcement, while bringing in over NIS 950 million ($268 million) in tax revenue, the Jerusalem Post reported.

In Israel every year there are more than 18,000 criminal cases involving marijuana, amounting to 5.2 percent of all criminal cases in Israel. A survey of 500 Israelis conducted by JIMS found that only 26 percent of Israelis support marijuana legalization, with 64 percent opposed. But taught more about the issue, support rose to 50 percent. Additionally, 75 percent of Israelis support medical marijuana.