It looks like Canberra and the Australian Capital Territory is about to be the first in this country to legalise Marijuana for personal use. It will still remain a prohibited item under Commonwealth law but local jurisdiction law will allow citizens to grow two Marijuana plants in their garden, with a limit of four plants per household.
That is a bold step forward and reflects an international trend but it will certainly create problems for the police. We are yet to see the actual wording of the act that creates this anomaly but it is rumoured that hydroponic cultivation will still be outlawed to prevent commercial growers from establishing an Australian base.
It is certainly interesting to muse on the possibilities this will offer. A pensioner couple struggling on the age pension would see this law change as a bonus. They could legally grow four Marijuana plants at their home to provide a very substantial income. The passing traffic from Victoria and New South Wales would be very interested in that merchandise and no doubt their state police would create car search roadblocks outside the ACT borders.
This law gives the green light to people seeking a " high " to smoke a " joint " and some medical specialists claim that this is far safer than using alcohol. Unfortunately, the over use of alcohol kills many Australians every year and Marijuana is not a substance subjected to overdose death like heroin or incorrectly formulated Ecstasy pills. Patrons at music festivals would be far safer enjoying a joint than seeking a high from the weird brews on offer from the illegal drug industry.
Seventy years ago Marijuana was openly grown and used by Australia's " hippie " community and it got swept up in the furore when heroin started creating deaths amongst a small coterie of users. From there Marijuana gathered a cult following and it gained wide acceptance within the military during the Vietnam war years. It is the biggest illegal drug grown illicitly in Australia and most people have little problem finding supply on Australian streets.
This Canberra initiative has the potential to pressure the other states to legalise Marijuana. Logically, it would be better grown as a commercial crop and distributed through retail outlets in the same way as alcohol - and subjected to sales tax to provide a government revenue source. The glaring anomaly in this Canberra scheme is the fact that it will become a source of untaxed revenue in the hands of the public. It is inevitable that will become the source of supply to the other states where it remains a prohibited product.
It will also have to survive the over riding power of the Commonwealth government. Only states have the right to pass their own laws and in the past the " Territories " have had euthanasia laws struck down when they have been enacted locally. This Marijuana ordinance may be holding a straw in the wind to gauge what reaction it draws from the Commonwealth.
This is the first time common sense has been applied to the failed attempt to isolate Australia from the drug epidemic that has been sweeping the world. We will just have to wait and see how it works out !
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