Pubdate: 01 Oct, 1999 Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) Copyright: 1999 Mercury Center Contact: http://www.sjmercury.com/ FROM THE LAND HIGH UNDER? Australia's reputation as a nation of big drinkers is going up in smoke. Researchers at the University of Western Australia's Economic Research Center have found that Australians spend almost as much on illegal cannabis as they do on their beloved beer and twice as much as they do on wine. "Expenditure on marijuana in 1995 was a little over $5 billion in Australian currency (U.S. $3.25 billion) or $351 (Australian) per capita," said researchers Professor Ken Clements and Mert Daryal in a paper, "The Economics of Marijuana Consumption." The estimated marijuana expenditure was equivalent to 1 percent of Australia's 1995 gross domestic product, far higher than was previously estimated. It represented double the expenditure on wine and three-quarters of the money spent on beer. - --- MAP posted-by: Thunder