“Every day we wait is a day too late”: Push for parliament to legalise cannabis in NSW

By JUSTIN COOPER.

The Legalise Cannabis Party has introduced a new bill to multiple state parliaments with plans to legalise the purchase, possession and use of cannabis in New South Wales.

Introduced to parliament on Tuesday, the Regulation of Personal Adult Use of Cannabis Bill 2023 outlines provisions which would allow adults to possess and grow small quantities of cannabis at home. It is modelled after current legislation in the ACT.

The introduction of the bill has come from a united push from the party across states where they have representation in the upper house, including Victoria, Western Australia and New South Wales.

Legalise Cannabis brought the legislation to respective parliaments with the aim to provide consistent laws across states, believing this will stop unnecessary arrests. The party deems the current laws as outdated.

City Hub spoke with Legalise Cannabis NSW MP, Jeremy Buckingham, on the reform’s significance. Buckingham said this is about “equity, common sense, and law and order.”

“Our proposed law is a modest one and one which reflects what’s already happening,” said Buckingham. “This means that those wishing to smoke weed won’t be forced into criminal behaviour, and organised crime will be deprived of an important source of income.”

Additionally, Buckingham noted the severity of cannabis use/possession offences impacting young-adults and First Nations people.

Buckingham highlighted research from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOSCAR), which found there is “a 32.2 percentage point difference in cautioning rates between all Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people for minor cannabis offences.”

“Since Aboriginal people have higher than average rates of contact with the criminal justice system… this is a form of indirect bias that limits Aboriginal people’s access to this formal diversion pathway,” he explained.

Benefits for budget

Greens NSW MLC, Cate Faehrmann, had similar sentiments advocating for the legalisation of cannabis and “ending the failed war on drugs”.

“Needlessly bringing cannabis users into the criminal justice system has devastating consequences for individuals and at huge expense to the state’s budget.”

Elaborating on the financial prospects of legalising cannabis, Faehrmann recalled a request from the Greens to the federal Parliamentary Budget Office last year. The office declared that $28 billion in tax revenue would be reaped federally over a decade period.

“With NSW facing a $7 billion budget black hole, creating a safe and thriving legal cannabis market should be a no-brainer,” said Faehrmann.

Faehrmann, who introduced a similar bill last year for the Greens Party, says, “it’s not a question of if, but when we legalise cannabis in NSW. And every day we wait is a day too late.”

Health concerns to be assessed

Concerns have been raised regarding substance use associated risks, with the Minns Government not planning to support the bill. Despite previously supporting legalising cannabis back in 2019, Premier Chris Minns, prior to the state election, suggested holding a drug summit to provide professional advice to the government.

NSW Health Minister, Ryan Park, spoke with City Hub saying the government aims to host the “drug summit” by the end of their first term. The summit aims to bring medical experts, organisations and important stakeholders to “provide a range of perspectives and build consensus on the way NSW deals with drug use and misuse.”

“In order to appropriately consider the range of issues and implications arising from the summit, it is important that the NSW Government not pre-empt it,” explained Park.

However, Buckingham believes the best way to address health concerns is to be open, direct and provide proper regulations for its use, which the bill aims to provide.

“Similar laws were passed in the ACT in 2000 and the sky has not fallen in… If issues arise, we can talk about them openly and address them.” said Buckingham. “When a behaviour is criminalised, this is not possible.”

Cannabis possession and use is currently illegal in all Australia states, however each state is responsible for the severity of punishment and specifics in dealing with charges.

In NSW, penalties for possession or use includes a maximum penalty of two year imprisonment and/or a $2,200 fine. However, if someone is caught in possession with less than 15g of cannabis for personal use, police have the discretion to issue a caution up to two times for individuals.