Legalising cannabis is a bold proposal and one that warrants attention.
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Labor’s civil and political rights policy group wants cannabis use legalised and is raising an idea that, although seemingly radical, is becoming the status quo elsewhere.
While marijuana sale and use has long been tolerated in the Netherlands, and the drug is now legalised in several US states, Australia has largely stayed clear of the idea.
This is understandable, considering the health risks associated with cannabis. The drug is associated with mental illness in those genetically predisposed to it. Other negative side effects are commonly known: mood swings, memory loss and learning difficulties.
The potential harm of cannabis has previously been deemed bad enough to justify criminalising its use and sale. In terms of health effects, marijuana is not in the same category as other illegal drugs such as methamphetamine or heroin. It’s worth re-evaluating the ban, given the policy has been in place so long.
There are questions worth asking: Are the health impacts of cannabis use bad enough to warrant criminalising the drug, and the cost to the government of enforcing this?
Does the focus on law enforcement impede efforts to tackle what is also a health problem?
Alcohol and tobacco use is a heavy, expensive impost on public health. Given this, would carefully regulated cannabis sales create as much of a burden to the health system?
It’s an open question whether it would be more economic to manage the risk to public health by regulating and taxing cannabis sales under a similar framework to that governing the tobacco industry.
Has criminalising cannabis use and sale achieved the goal of restricting the drug’s circulation, and its resulting impact on people’s health?
Voters in California will weigh such questions when voting on whether to decriminalise marijuana on November 8.
Their other vote that day – which has Donald Trump on the ballot – is a reminder that Australia shouldn’t import all of the US’s ideas. They should be assessed on their own merit.
Tasmania may well decide that the current system works, or that there isn’t enough evidence that changing it would achieve anything better.