A parliamentary committee exploring a bill to decriminalise cannabis for personal use in Victoria has recommended the government follow the example of the Australian Capital Territory.
The ACT government decriminalised the personal use of cannabis in 2019. Similar to the ACT, Victoria’s bill seeks to allow an adult to possess up to 50g of cannabis. It also allows a residence to cultivate a maximum of six cannabis plants for personal use – two more than permitted in the ACT. Victoria’s bill also permits an adult to gift cannabis to another adult.
The committee also recommends the bill be amended to include a five-year statutory review clause to ensure appropriate monitoring and evaluation.
When evaluating the ACT’s decriminalisation policy during its first three years, ACT Health found it had not led to a significant increase in cannabis use. “The evidence that is just coming to the fore in the ACT is that there are really negligible changes in cannabis use and related harms,” Paul Dietze – a drug epidemiologist from the Burnet Institute – told the committee.
According to the latest National Drug Strategy Household Survey conducted by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, cannabis is the most used illicit drug in the country, with 41 per cent of the 21,000 respondents saying they had used it at some point.
By adopting a public health approach to cannabis use, it’s expected Victoria’s legislation will prevent small-possession users being caught up in the state’s criminal justice system. “We expect that there would be a major reduction in criminal justice involvement for people with 11,000 cannabis consumer related arrests in 2020–21. That is a huge burden on police and the community,” said Dietze.
Robert Taylor of national peak the Alcohol and Drug Foundation said the organisation was very supportive of the provisions in the bill. “We think that by removing the criminal charges associated with possession and use of cannabis you are removing, quite simply, a harm that has been ineffective at actually changing behaviour and improving public health in any meaningful way, and it has served as a kind of detriment to public health.”
Another benefit of cannabis decriminalisation is destigmatisation, said Taylor. “Stigma is just such a massive, massive factor when it comes to both alcohol and drugs and people seeking help … there is still a lot of stigma around seeking help, and that is really poor for public health.”
What the bill proposes is fairly modest
Calling the bill “a first step”, Dietze told the committee the legislation could go further “towards a heavily regulated sort of quasi commercial market which would enable stricter potency controls, which is one of the major concerns that people have around cannabis law reform.”
It would also allow taxation revenue to be generated, added Dietze. “And I think any inroads we can make to remove the illicit market are really important.”
If Victoria’s legislation is passed, it will become the fourth Australian jurisdiction to formally decriminalise cannabis – following the ACT, NT and SA.
“The sky has not fallen in in those places,” said James Petty of the Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association. “What the bill proposes is fairly modest. It is not a radical restructuring of our entire legal system or polity or anything. It is just a tweak, really.”
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