Australia’s Parliament will vote on a bill legalising cannabis for adult use late this month. It will face some stiff opposition.
The proposed legislation, introduced by the Greens, would see a national agency given oversight of a commercial industry. The yet-to-be-created Cannabis Australia National Agency (CANA) would also set out labelling requirements; such as safety and dosage information and any other information it determines is relevant.
Home cultivation for personal use would also be permitted, as would appropriately licensed “cannabis cafes”. The bill makes no changes to Australia’s medicinal cannabis scheme. Under the legislation, should it pass, big tobacco, alcohol and pharmaceutical corporations would be kept out of the recreational market.
It would also be a cash cow in terms of the government’s coffers, with $28 billion in anticipated public revenue in the first 9 years of operation.
The bill was introduced by Greens Senator David Shoebridge to the Senate on 10 August 2023, and it was announced last week it would finally be put to a vote on November 27, 2024 – a week from today. According to the Greens, it was the first bill of its kind introduced into Federal Parliament.
“This bill could redirect billions from organised crime to local businesses and bold entrepreneurs bringing safe, high-quality cannabis products to us all,” said Senator Shoebridge last week.
But he’s under no illusion that getting the bill over the line will be a slam-dunk.
“The vote won’t be easy because the majors hate positive change,” he stated. “I mean seriously if that lot won’t join with us to fix the housing crisis, sort out the climate mess or stop war, let’s at least have some legal weed to deal with it all.”
And that is a point of concern for those opposed.
In May this year, a Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee report recommended the bill not pass. With an estimated million+ additional Australians trying cannabis if it were legal for recreational purposes, one of the concerns is this could pose widespread health risks.
Senator Shoebridge’s dissenting report can be found here. Regarding the prospect of the bill’s failure to pass, he said:
“If we don’t succeed this time, there is an upcoming federal election where people can see which politicians voted for this reform and which politicians instead voted for more jail, more policing and more profits for organised crime.”
