Australia should tax and regulate cannabis, not prohibit it
Drug policy has surprisingly little effect, if any, on consumption patterns but does produce serious harm
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Cannabis arrests have accounted for the largest proportion of illicit drug arrests in Australia. In 2015-16, of the two million Australians who use cannabis every year there were almost 80,000 cannabis arrests. Of these arrests, the overwhelming majority (90 per cent) were consumers while the remainder were providers. Yet in 2017, 92 per cent of drug users reported in a national survey that obtaining hydroponic cannabis was "easy" or "very easy" while 75 per cent reported obtaining bush cannabis was "easy" or "very easy". A poll by Essential Media found in 2016 that 55 per cent of Australians support taxing and regulating cannabis, with at least 50 per cent of the following groups supportive: men, women, ALP voters, Greens voters. 47 per cent of LNP voters favoured taxing and regulating.
