Lawmakers in Finland voted on a citizen initiative this week that sought to legalize cannabis for adult use. Unfortunately, the vote was not favorable, with 145 MPs voting against the measure, only 18 voting for it, and 36 MPs being absent at the time of the vote.

“Votes to reject the initiative came from a majority of the governing National Coalition Party, the Finns Party, the Swedish People’s Party and the Christian Democrats.” reported YLE in its local coverage. “Regarding opposition parties, the votes against the measure were cast by a broad majority of the Social Democrats and the Centre Party.”

“The votes in favour of the measure came from the Green Party and the Left Alliance.” the outlet also reported. It is not the first time that lawmakers in Finland have voted on a cannabis reform citizen initiative and rejected it.

In 2022, cannabis advocates collected the necessary 50,000 signatures to place adult-use cannabis legalization in front of lawmakers, with a vote happening in 2023 and MPs voting against the measure. A cannabis decriminalization initiative also received sufficient signatures back in 2019, but that measure was also rejected.

A researcher affiliated with the Metropolia University of Applied Sciences previously analyzed the potential economic, societal, and fiscal impacts that cannabis legalization may have on Finland. The researcher’s findings were published on the academic database Thesus. The researcher in Finland analyzed “the important aspects of the economy,” such as Finland’s GDP and unemployment rate.

“Economically, shifting the cannabis market from the unregulated black market to a regulated legal industry could stabilize Finland’s GDP as all the other countries who have done have seen a substantial increase in their GDP in the years following their legalisation,” the researcher found. “The taxation model suggested and used by Canada and Uruguay demonstrates how governments can effectively regulate pricing and safe cultivating methods, while keeping the legal market competitive against illicit trade.”

“Furthermore, Finland’s unique position and commitment to renewable energy could position the country as a leader in sustainable cannabis production.” he added.

“The results of this research paper have found that the legalisation of Cannabis provides a substantial potential benefit for Finland as it would open up a whole new industry as well as economically the tax revenue gained from this new industry would be used to tackle the limited negative impact that legalisation would have on society as well as potential help tackle other societal challenges Finland faces such as overconsumption of alcohol.” the study’s author concluded.