For the first time a political party that has members seated in the Australian Federal parliament is advocating a law change to make Marijuana legal for personal use here. The Greens have only a tiny toe hold in our legislative process and legalising Cannabis is stridently opposed by both the main political parties, but it seems that world events are moving in that direction.
Several American states have opposed the laws of their Federal government and legislated to allow the sale of Cannabis for personal use. It delivers a euphoria similar to alcohol and research claims that it is no more addictive than this other legal product. For decades it has been the most widely traded illicit drug in Australia and there can be few young people who have not at one time or another tried smoking a " joint " !
It is now decriminalized in Uruguay, Canada and Spain where it delivers tax at the similar rate to tobacco. It was perfectly legal in Australia about seventy years ago, but when heroin use attracted headlines a drug panic saw it legally withdrawn from the hippie movement which was growing and smoking it. The lure of any " forbidden " product made it a natural target for supply by the crime fraternity.
Police efforts to control marijuana have been a failure. Despite regular busts it is freely available in most city suburbs from dealers who are not hard to find. About 75,000 Australians are arrested each year for Cannabis offences and now those caught with a small quantity are simply released with a caution. Many people consider than Cannabis should be treated separately to " hard " drugs, which include opiates, heroin, cocaine and LSD.
Legalization is opposed by the medical profession but our medicos are well known for their conservatism. It took ages for our feet dragging politicians to legalise medical cannabis, but still only a tiny proportion are writing scripts despite the proven benefits it delivers. This same conservative profession is still writing scripts for opiates despite the destruction this highly addictive drug is causing.
The movement to legalize cannabis contends that it could deliver a huge tax benefit to a cash strapped state and it would break the nexus between hard drugs and what they see as a mild intoxicant that delivers no more harm than is legally available from alcohol. Making it legal would also destroy the argument that marijuana is a link to the use of more serious drugs. This contends that when police activity halt the cannabis flow users are tempted to use other, harder drugs pushed on them by the dealers. As a legal product, marijuana would not encounter supply shortages.
It is hard to see any legal change gaining momentum in Canberra on an Australian wide basis unless a small state like Tasmania grasps the challenge as a way of enhancing their tourist trade. Their pubs adopted ten pm closing decades before the eastern states, which persisted with the " six o'clock swill " and Tassie was the first to legalise a casino in Australia. It also delivered off course betting long before the eastern states brought in the TAB.
What is unmistakably evident is that opposition to marijuana is fading on the world scene. The only thing that can reliably be said about cannabis legislation is " never say never " !
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