LEGALISE IT

“Cannabis law reform is the holy trinity of good policy: It’s the right thing to do. It’s backed by evidence. It enjoys broad community support.” – His Honour Tony Parsons 

Write to the Premier
Rachel Payne MP and David Ettershank MP speaking at the 420 rally.

The Victorian Government has made the cowardly decision to rule out decriminalising cannabis – a decision that ignores the evidence, ignores the recommendations of an overwhelming majority of stakeholders and ignores the 80% of Victorians who support decriminalising cannabis.  

Sadly, the Victorian Government has made this decision out of fear of losing a law-and-order election. Yet at a time when the government is cutting vital services, it is willing to waste many millions of dollars locking up thousands of our fellow Victorians for the non-violent offence of possessing a bit of cannabis, a disproportionate number of whom are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.  

Once and for all, we need to end the criminalisation of cannabis consumers. We can reduce harm, reduce stigma and reduce costs.   

WHAT ARE WE DOING?


In 2023, we introduced the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Amendment (Regulation of Personal Adult Use of Cannabis) Bill.

Our Bill will allow adult personal possession of small quantities of cannabis and adults to grow up to six cannabis plants at home. It will also allow adult consumption of cannabis (not in a public place) and adults to gift a small quantity of cannabis.

Children under the age of 18 will be prevented from accessing cannabis.

WHAT’ S THE LATEST?


Our Bill has been reviewed by a parliamentary committee, who met with stakeholders, listened to expert advice and reviewed the ACT’s positive experience with decriminalisation.   
 
The final report made sensible recommendations, supported by both Labor and Legalise Cannabis MPs, including that the government consider adopting an approach in line with our Bill – read it here.  

The Victorian Government has rejected these recommendations.  

HOW CAN I HELP?


We need YOU to help us call out this cowardly decision by:

Writing to the Premier (you can even use our template!)

Writing to your local member.

Sharing our message on social media.

Talking to your friends and families about the harms of criminalisation and need for law reform.

🖊️ WRITE TO THE PREMIER

📰 LATEST NEWS

The simple answer is – it’s time.

Prohibiting cannabis use has failed miserably. Despite decades of prohibition, anyone can get their hands on illicit cannabis. Criminals are raking in billions of dollars while our governments spend tens of millions enforcing prohibition – money which could be invested in harm reduction.

Cannabis is extremely popular amongst Australians and is enjoyed by people from all walks of life.

Maybe the better question is why was it made illegal in the first place?

A lot actually.

It is the most commonly used illicit drug in Australia and the third most commonly used drug after alcohol and tobacco.

According to the most recent government health survey, conservatively, 8 million adults have used cannabis at least once and more than 11% of Australians use it regularly. About 2.4 million Australians regularly use cannabis today.

It’s quite similar to the model in the ACT but with a few differences.

The ACT doesn’t allow for people to share with friends and people they care for. This means that anyone who consumes cannabis and can’t grow at home has to interact with the illicit market.

It’s impossible to legally obtain seeds in the ACT. Under our Bill they can be shared.

The ACT only allows two plants to be grown at home and they must be grown outside. We believe that growing six plants is more realistic. We also don’t restrict growing to outside because for many living in apartments or colder climates, that simply isn’t an option.

It would significantly reduce the burden on the criminal justice system.

In 2020-21 nearly 60,000 cannabis users were arrested in Australia!

About a third of all charges heard in the Magistrates Court are for the possession of a drug. Cannabis accounts for nearly half of these charges.

In 2020–21, cannabis accounted for 52% of all national drug seizures.

In 2019-20, nearly half of all drug-related arrests (47 per cent) were for cannabis.

Regulating the personal use of cannabis allows law enforcement the resources to focus on real issues.

As we said, cannabis is very popular in Australia with over 2.4 million people regularly consuming it.

It is estimated that Australians spend about $14 billion dollars a year on cannabis. That money goes into the hands of criminals.

Allowing adults to grow their own and share with friends and those they care for, will definitely make a big dent in the illegal market.

Yes! over 80% of Australians believe that cannabis use and possession should not be a crime.

This number grows every year. Australians increasingly understand the benefits of law reform and recognise that current policies are not effective at reducing harm.

The ACT found that after changing their laws there was no increase in road accidents involving cannabis use.

We continue to advocate for changes to the roadside drug testing regime, so that testing focuses on impairment and does not unfairly target people who consume cannabis.

This bill will not change the law in relation to cannabis and driving.

This is an important question and one lots of people are concerned about.

In the ACT following decriminalisation there was no substantive increase in cannabis use and no increase in cannabis related hospital and ambulance presentations.

When cannabis is not illegal people can be honest about their use, risks of contamination are lower and we can invest in harm reduction measures like education. This will mean better health outcomes for millions of Australians.

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