It’s not known when the legislation will be put to parliament.
A new campaign by the Australian Greens is promising to help legalize recreational cannabis at a national level.
They say they’ve obtained constitutional legal advice that has made it clear it’s possible for the Federal Parliament to make cannabis legal within Australia.
Such laws would help regulate supply, something Greens Senator David Shoebridge said is vital among growing use of cannabis recreationally.
“We’ve been told to wait for cannabis law reform for too long, even when it’s obvious that the majority of harm caused is by policing and the war on drugs, not the plant.
“Experts and government inquiries keep pointing out how the war on drugs is failing and how heavy handed policing and the criminal justice system is causing harm, not fixing the problem.
“People are looking for justice and legal cannabis delivers this. It’s plain wrong that young people are being dragged to court for what should be a personal choice about cannabis use.”
According to the Greens, 40 per cent of Australians say they have used cannabis and would welcome cannabis law reforms.
It was also pointed out by the political party that making weed illegal adds profit to organised crimes with The Greens adding that we should look overseas as to how to regulate it.
“While the US and Canada have thousands of cannabis entrepreneurs and a safer, more relaxed cannabis market, here we have sniffer dogs, random drug testing and long prison sentences.”
However, organisations such as Drug Free Australia say that cannabis shouldn’t be legalised and instead drug policy should be aimed at demand reduction, primary prevention, and recovery-focussed rehabilitation.
“This can never be achieved if illicit drugs are condoned through their legalisation. There is a maxim that remains constant – availability, accessibility and, of course, the key component permissibility all increase consumption,” they said.
