Right: Medical marijuana is legal in Australia, although the official term is 'medicinal cannabis'. However, only CBD oil is available over the counter. Any other type of medicinal cannabis is only available by prescription, and there are important distinctions between CBD oil and other forms of medicinal cannabis.
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Arguments in favour of legalising cannabis
1. The supposedly addictive effects of marijuana / cannabis use have been exaggerated, while the drug is less harmful than many othersThose who support the legalisation of recreational cannabis argue that its allegedly injurious effects have been overstated.
Cannabis is addictive for some users; however, its addictive properties are not as pronounced as those of many other drugs. Although not everyone who uses marijuana becomes addicted to it, addiction does occur among a proportion of users. It is estimated that 1 in 10 adults who use marijuana will develop a cannabis use disorder, with a higher risk for people who begin using marijuana before the age of 18.
However, studies have also shown that cannabis is significantly less addictive than other popularly consumed drugs some of which can be purchased legally. A 2014 review of 20 years of existing research into the health effects of marijuana use found that people who try marijuana are reportedly significantly less likely to become dependent on it than users of just about any other drug, including tobacco, heroin, cocaine, alcohol, or stimulants. The review stated, 'The life-time risk of developing dependence among those who have ever used cannabis was estimated at 9 percent in the United States in the early 1990s as against 32 percent for nicotine, 23 percent for heroin, 17 percent for cocaine, 15 percent for alcohol and 11 percent for stimulants.' It has also been noted that cannabis has not been shown to be a gateway drug. It used to be said that taking cannabis paved the way for users to experiment with other more dangerous substances. This claim has now been disputed. Public Health Ontario have stated 'The gateway hypothesis overall has not been proven, and specifically, there is no conclusive evidence that cannabis use causally leads to the use of other substances.'
It has been suggested that if there is a link between cannabis use and the later consumption of other drugs it is probable that the two behaviours share a common cause rather than that cannabis use caused a transition to other drugs. Michelle Taylor, a cannabis researcher from the University of Bristol, has noted, 'There is no evidence that cannabis use actually causes...later drug use, merely that the two behaviours are linked, a link which could be due to factors which commonly influence both behaviours.' It has further been claimed that cannabis damages user health to a far lesser degree than many other commonly consumed drugs. A 2010 British study found that alcohol was the most dangerous drug in terms of its effect on health, likelihood to commit crime and other socio-economic adverse effects. Heroin, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, cocaine, tobacco, and amphetamine were all ranked along with alcohol as having greater adverse effects than marijuana.
Finally, studies published in 2023 have shown that legalising cannabis does not increase health or psychosocial risks within a community. Substantial United States studies comparing some 4,000 separated twins where one group lived in Colorado where cannabis was legally available, while their siblings lived in Minnesota where cannabis use is illegal found no significant difference in relative health. Researchers followed participants, from adolescence to the age 24 to 49, collecting data on use of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and several illicit drugs, as well as measures of "psychosocial health." They found no relationship between legalizing cannabis and heightened risk of cannabis use disorder, or cannabis addiction. They also found no significant connection between the use of cannabis and 23 measures of 'psychosocial distress,' including use of alcohol and illicit drugs such as cocaine and heroin, psychotic behavior, financial distress, cognitive problems, unemployment, and relationships at work and at home.
2. Legalising personal cannabis use stops the criminalisation of a drug most Australians think should not be illegal. It also prevents discrimination against users.
Those who support the legalisation of recreational cannabis argue that using this substance is not seen as criminal by most Australians. It is further argued that classing cannabis use as an illegal activity unfairly penalises those who take the substance.
Attitudes toward cannabis use in Australia have altered over time. As indicated by the 2019
National Drug Strategy Household Survey, although 54 percent of Australians disapprove of regular cannabis use, 66 percent think that the possession of small amounts of cannabis for personal use should not be a criminal offence.
The same survey also found that support for regular cannabis use was now higher than support for regular tobacco use, even though the latter drug is not treated as illegal. Growing support for the legalisation of cannabis use has also been shown at the ballot box. At the 2019 federal election, the single-issue party Legalise Cannabis picked up between 2 percent and 7 percent of the Senate vote in most states and the Northern Territory, despite running no advertising during the campaign. RMIT associate lecturer and drug policy consultant, Jarryd Bartle, has noted, 'Legalise Cannabis getting a significant proportion of the vote was another indication there is - particularly amongst younger Australians - a trend in support of legalisation.' It has been argued that current social acceptance of cannabis in Australia is also shown by the number of people who use the substance. The 2019 National Drug Strategy Household Survey showed that cannabis continues to have the highest reported prevalence of lifetime and recent consumption among the general population, compared with other illicit drugs. People who had used cannabis only for medicinal purposes and always had it prescribed by a doctor were identified and removed from data relating to the recent use of cannabis, which focuses on illicit use for recreational purposes. For people aged 14 and over in Australia in 2019, 36 percent had used cannabis in their lifetime and 11.6 percent had used cannabis in the prior 12 months. Lifetime and recent use of cannabis increased significantly between 2016 and 2019 (up from 35 percent and 10.4 percent in 2016).
It is also argued that it is inappropriate to penalise and criminalise those who use a drug that most Australians do not consider should be criminalised. In an article published in The Conversation on April 17, 2018, Nicole Lee, Adjunct Professor at the National Drug Research Institute (NDRI) Curtin University and Jarryd Bartle, Associate Lecturer in Criminology and Justice Studies at RMIT University, stated, 'Some of the major harms from using illicit drugs are precisely because they are illegal. A significant harm is having a criminal record for possessing drugs that are for personal use.'
The same point has been made by Peter Pullicino writing for Drug Policy Australia. Pullicino writes, 'If you visit your local court, you will see people lingering in waiting rooms for victimless crimes like personal drug possession. Many are scared, but few will learn useful lessons or get the help they need directly from a retributive justice process. A fine, criminal record or short mandatory drug course is unlikely to result in behaviour change.' Victoria Legal Aid also opposes the criminalisation of personal marijuana use. In a 2020 submission to the Victorian Government, they cited the example of one of their clients who uses cannabis only for private recreation to demonstrate the unnecessary harm that criminalising marijuana inflicts on innocent, often marginalised people. They noted, 'Despite only smoking at home, David has been charged for cannabis possession multiple times and was once remanded in custody.' Dan Nicholson, Executive Director of Criminal Law, Victoria, summed up the issue, claiming that criminalising cannabis use discriminated against disadvantaged groups. He stated, 'We see people struggling with poverty, mental health issues and dependence, who are not a risk to others, being drawn back into the criminal justice system and spending time on remand when charged with cannabis possession. When our clients receive a criminal conviction, it causes long term barriers to employment and housing.' On August 10, while proposing the new legislation, the Greens David Shoebridge stated, 'It's the chance to radically reduce harm, literally overnight, by saving some 80,000 Australians a year from being caught up in the criminal justice system for possession of cannabis.' 3. Legalising recreational cannabis use would reduce the waste of police time and the misuse of the criminal justice system
Those who support the legalisation of cannabis argue that criminalising the drug wastes police time and the resources of the courts, which would be better spent acting against serious criminals.
All around the world, supporters of the legalisation of cannabis argue that this would significantly free up police time, allowing the police to deal with more serious matters. In Britain, the Liberal Democrats claim that a legal, regulated market for cannabis would save 1.04 million police hours annually. Their calculations are based on Ministry of Justice figures of police caseloads for drug offences in 2015. They also use Treasury estimates of the number of hours police officers of different ranks (constable, sergeant, or inspector) need to spend per case of cannabis possession or supply.
Related claims have been made in the United States. Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, a leading military police representative operating in the District of Columbia, where his force is responsible for the protection of major government buildings, stated in May 2021, 'If our officers are busting teenagers for smoking marijuana over at the train station... that doesn't have anything to do with protecting the Capitol or its members - it's probably wasted time and energy.' A similar claim was made by Jesse Wegman writing for the New York Times and claiming that with the increasing focus on apprehending marijuana users, United States police were misusing their time and resources. Wegman states, 'The absurdity starts on the street, with a cop and a pair of handcuffs. As the war on drugs escalated through the 1980s and 1990s, so did the focus on common, low-level offenses... In New York City, where the strategy was introduced and remains popular today, the police made fewer than 800 marijuana arrests in 1991. In 2010, they made more than 59,000... The public-safety payoff for all this effort is meager at best.' Similar complaints are regularly made in Australia about the misuse of police resources pursuing marijuana users and suppliers. The 2022 Penington Institute report on cannabis in Australia found that 90 percent of cannabis-related charges since 2010 were for personal use or possession at a cost to Australian taxpayers of $1.7bn a year in law enforcement. John Ryan, the chief executive officer of the Penington Institute, stated, 'The demonstrated harms and enormous financial burden associated with Australia's simplistic prohibition approach is much more harmful than the substance itself.'
Cannus, an Australian news source that focuses on cannabis-related stories, recently published an article featuring critical social media responses to news of major police operations against marijuana suppliers. One of the quoted social media commentators stated, 'I don't use it, but I hope that one day we can have a safe and well-regulated market for medical and recreational cannabis. Operations like this... waste police resources [that could be used] to target.... crime. The risks and costs to the community of legalising recreational cannabis are low, while legalisation...can result in safer products and new tax streams to fund public health initiatives.'
It has similarly been claimed that prosecuting those who grow and use marijuana is a misuse of the courts. Greg Barns Senior Counsel and spokesperson for the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) was quoted in August 2023, stating, 'Every year millions of dollars are spent on the pointless prosecution of drug users, clogging our court systems, and resulting in people - especially young people - ending up with criminal records that last a lifetime.'
Barns had earlier explained that the courts' time was essentially being wasted because they were treating as criminal issues matters that were either a social or a health concern. In 2021, Barns had stated, 'We waste a huge amount of court time in dealing with people for drug possession offences, when they should be treated as a health and lifestyle issue. Much of the work of magistrates, or judges in local courts, is dealing with matters, which, essentially, are a health or lifestyle issue.' The Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) found cannabis-related incidents are the leading drug offences to be charged in New South Wales. Its data revealed there were 524 criminal incidents of cannabis possession and use in 2022 - higher than charges relating to the possession and use of other drugs. It has been claimed that the significant number of cannabis-related charges is worsening the backlog of court cases in New South Wales local courts. 4. Legalising recreational cannabis would significantly increase taxation revenue which could be used for valuable social purposes
It has been argued that if marijuana were legalised and properly regulated as a commercial enterprise this would generate huge taxation revenues which could be used for significant social and community purposes, such as addressing problems associated with drug use.
The Greens in Australia have argued that legalising cannabis would result in tens of billions of dollars in increased federal government revenue. On January 30, 2023, the Green issued a media release stating 'The legalisation of Cannabis would generate more than $28 billion in government revenue in the first decade after legalisation. This comes from GST, company tax and a 15 percent cannabis sales tax. With a 25 percent cannabis sales tax, the revenue would surge to over $36 billion.' It has also been noted that legalising cannabis would reduce government expenditure on policing and the courts, freeing up this revenue for more productive social purposes. David Shoebridge, Greens senator and justice spokesperson. has claimed, 'We know that legalising cannabis reduces harm by keeping people out of the criminal justice system... it will also bring in tens of billions of dollars of public revenue as well. With the revenue generated from legalised cannabis we can build new public housing for a quarter of a million people or lift JobSeeker by $80 a fortnight. This is an opportunity for some serious investment in social justice. When we legalise cannabis we take billions away from organised crime, police and the criminal justice system and we can then spend it on schools, housing, hospitals and social support.'
Taxation revenue in Canada since October 2018, when cannabis was legalised, shows the financial benefits to governments that can result from legalisation. On February 28, 2023, Canada's federal government announced that it had assessed more than 1 billion Canadian dollars ($740 million) in total duty on cannabis products since they were legalised for recreational use. 75 percent of the revenue had been directed to the provinces (states) and 25 percent had remained with the federal government.
The cannabis industry has now become a substantial employer in Canada and has caused a $43.5 billion boost to the country's gross domestic product. This has led to an increase in indirect taxation revenues associated with cannabis sale and production. It has been estimated that between 2018 and 2023 cannabis's total contribution to taxation revenue (from direct and indirect taxation) was approximately $15.1 billion.
Some of the revenue derived from legalisation has already been used in public health campaigns to increase Canadians' knowledge of the risks associated with cannabis use. This appears to have been successful, with past-year cannabis users who believe that regular cannabis use poses a moderate to high health risk rising from 34 percent to 40 percent among those using edible products. The recognition of risk among those that vapourising cannabis has risen from 38 percent to 55 percent.
In Australia some supporters of legalising cannabis consumption have argued that the taxation revenue received by governments should be prioritised for supporting those suffering drug addictions. Greg Barns, senior counsel and spokesperson for the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA), has noted the lack of support networks within the health systems for those suffering from various forms of addiction, including cannabis addiction.
In Canada it has been recommended that part of the revenue derived from cannabis taxation should be used for new public health interventions with a focus on drug-related issues. 5. Legalising recreational cannabis would allow its supply to be properly regulated and take it out of the hands of the criminal black market
Those who support the legalisation of recreational cannabis argue that allowing it to be legally cultivated takes supply out of the hands of criminal elements who currently produce much of the cannabis being illegally consumed. Regulating supply would also help to address current issues with quality control and health warnings not being attached to the cannabis that is currently consumed in Australia.
The black market supplies most of the cannabis being consumed in Australia. A 2020 inquiry into the use of cannabis in Victoria found that since cannabis began to be used recreationally in Australia in the 1960s, there has been no legal source of the drug , thus 'the black market (including domestic cultivation) was the only supplier'. It has been claimed that the value of the black market in cannabis is comparable to that of Australia's wine industry, with illegal cannabis production in Queensland estimated to be that state's second largest agricultural industry.
The Greens have estimated that the current value of cannabis produced illegally in Australia is approximately $25 billion. The modelling used by the Greens suggests that creating a legal market would see illegal cannabis sales collapse to just five percent of all sales in the first five years of operation, removing billions of dollars from organised crime. Fortune Business Insights has projected that by 2030, the global value of the cannabis market will be $US444.34 billion. Governments around the world do not want such an extremely valuable revenue stream in the hands of illegal and often criminal producers. When announcing his intention to legalise cannabis, Canada's prime minister, Justin Trudeau, argued that the reform would 'keep the money out of the pockets of organised crime'. It has further been argued that legalising the cultivation and supply of cannabis would allow regulation of the substance and so help to protect users. Under its legalisation blueprint, the Greens plan to establish an Australian Cannabis Agency that would issue licences for production and sale. The agency would also act as the single wholesaler of legally accessible cannabis, and police the regulations. Licensed growers would be required to produce cannabis containing specific levels of THC and CBD (cannabidiol oil) . The party would also establish retail stores that only over-18s could enter. The stores would only be permitted to sell cannabis in plain packaging - with visible health warnings - and require staff to undertake a responsible sale of cannabis course.
The dangers of an unregulated market have been stressed by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) which has already warned those using medicinal cannabis on prescription not to buy from illegal, unlicensed sellers. The TGA has warned that black market cannabis may contained undeclared hazards and make not contain the required levels of cannabidiol oil. Canada has instituted numerous controls on product quality to help ensure that legalised cannabis is reliable. It has implemented stringent quality control and assurance measures for all classes of cannabis, which include requirements such as labelling THC and CBD content per product and limiting THC doses.
Cannabis offences target those acting outside of the legal framework, such as organized crime. Penalties are set in proportion to the seriousness of the offence. No person may sell or provide cannabis to any person under the age of 18. Packaging products in a way designed to appeal to youth is prohibited.