Victoria: Good news for pot smokers as talks to legalise cannabis in one Aussie state to get underway: ‘Why is it criminal?’

The Victorian Government will hold talks on decriminalizing the personal use of cannabis.

However, the potential for drug reform comes as the Labor government voted against a Legalize Cannabis party bill, now giving pot smokers the chance to light up.

Despite voting against the legislation, the ruling party said it would discuss the issue further with the two MPs of the Legalize Cannabis upper house, David Ettershank and Rachel Payne.

Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt told the Victorian Parliament on Wednesday that while Labor saw some benefits in the bill, the government could not support it in its current form.

“The Government is open to continued discussions with the Legalize Cannabis Victoria party on this issue and a process that will seek expert advice and work with the community,” Ms Stitt said.

Ms Payne said it is time for a health-oriented response to cannabis use.

“I want the Victorian Premier (Jacinta Allan) to be courageous in her response to this bill and end the injustice faced by the tens of thousands of adults who consume cannabis in this state,” she said.

Under former Premier Daniel Andrews, Labor opposed any change to Victorian drug laws relating to cannabis.

David Limbrick of the Libertarian party said the cannabis legalization bill was too moderate.

But Mr Ettershank said it was meant to be modest and common sense.

“We have this bizarre situation in Victoria where there is an illicit market worth at least $1.2 billion a year, based on an annual consumption of about 85 tonnes of cannabis, all of which is illegal and all of which is criminal. Why? ‘ he said.

The figures he cited were based on analysis by Victoria’s parliamentary budget officer.

Mr. Ettershank said the state “must abolish this outdated, 95-year-old ban. ‘The time for change is now.’

The changes Legalize Cannabis sought allowed adults to legally possess small amounts for personal use and grow up to six plants.

Under the original plan, cannabis could be given as a gift, but not sold. This would be the first step in a three-part process towards full regulation of the market.

The first bill would also allow a caregiver to grow crops on behalf of other people, but driving while impaired, supplying it to children and smoking the drug in public would still be criminal offences.

Mr Ettershank said Victoria spends a huge amount of money enforcing existing cannabis laws, which could instead be spent on healthcare and education.

He also said revenues could increase by taxing the drug if it is sold in a legal and controlled market, rather than on the black market.

“We have spent literally hundreds of millions of dollars a year prosecuting and incarcerating people whose only crime was personal use,” he said.

Although recreational use of cannabis is illegal in most of Australia, minor offenses have been decriminalized and replaced by fines in the ACT, South Australia and Northern Territory.

Since 2020, the ACT has also allowed adults to grow up to two plants and possess small amounts of the drug without a fine.

Ms Stitt, Victoria’s Mental Health Minister, said she “looks forward to continuing those important discussions”.

At the federal level, a recent Greens plan claimed that legalizing cannabis could generate an additional $28 billion in revenue over nine years.

“It’s not enough to just decriminalize cannabis. The community is demanding a comprehensive legislative plan,” Greens Justice spokesman David Shoebridge said in August.

According to 2019 government data, 36 percent of Australians aged 14 and over had used cannabis in their lifetime.

More than 40 percent support legalizing the drug for personal use, a figure that has doubled since 2013.

Medical cannabis was legalized in Australia in 2016 – a point raised in the NSW parliament on Wednesday by Jeremy Buckingham of that state’s Legalize Cannabis party.

Mr Buckingham held up a bud of cannabis in the House of Representatives and said he had received it with his prescription for medicinal cannabis.

But he told the room he would be jailed if he handed it over to anyone else.

‘What do you have to be afraid of? Here it is, Mr. President, a little cannabis, medical cannabis,” he said, taking the drug from his pocket.

“I note, Mr. President, that if I were to give you this cannabis here, you would be fined $10,000 and sentenced to 10 years in prison. And I would too.’

He has introduced a bill to the NSW Parliament that would allow growing up to six cannabis plants at home for personal use, and allow growers to share them with friends.