Australia: the Green Party proposes the legalization of cannabis

Australia's Green Party has proposed that the country legalize and regulate the sale and consumption of recreational cannabis.

«Governments around the world are realizing that cannabis prohibition causes more harm than it prevents».» said Richard di Natale, party leader. «It's time Australia joined them and legalized cannabis for adults.»

Richard di Natale, a former doctor, has personally «seen that despite the tough approach to drugs, it causes a lot of harm. It keeps people away from the help they need and exposes them to a dangerous black market. Our plan to create a legal market for the production and sale of cannabis reduces the risks, breaks the business model of traffickers and criminal syndicates, and protects young people from unfair criminal prosecution.»

The Greens' proposal follows the Uruguayan model, with an Australian Cannabis Agency that would have a monopoly on the production and sale of cannabis through licensed stores, subject to taxes on purchase and sale.

Former Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Palmer, has lent its support on the initiative of the Greens. «The very nature of law enforcement, when focused on crimes of use and possession, discriminates against those who are most vulnerable. The people most likely to be affected by the Police are aborigines, the homeless, people with mental illness or other health problems, including Vietnam veterans.»

The Australian Medical Association (AMA), for its part, has expressed some reservations, particularly regarding the risks that cannabis poses to minors. Nevertheless, it describes cannabis prohibition as a failure. «The courts are full of drug use cases. We see the recreational use of cannabis as a health problem, not a criminal one.»

L’Australia has legalized the medical use of cannabis in 2016. The medical cannabis program has been opening up slowly ever since, with a contradictory desire to’export-oriented production while Australian patients are still struggling to get their hands on cannabis. Some provinces decriminalized the personal use of cannabis in the 2000s.

The Green Party's proposal is a first for members of the Australian Parliament. Although it remains a minority party, some of their ideas, such as gender equality and gay marriage, have since found their way into Australian society.