Richard Di Natale (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I just ask you to perhaps reflect on the answer that you have just given. The claim that if a substance has a therapeutic use it will be exempt is patently false. Many of these social tonics are marketed as having therapeutic uses—to help control anxiety, help with sleep or help relax. As a former physician, we prescribed medications for those indications; we prescribed drugs that had psychoactive properties to control those particular conditions. It cannot be that if a drug is simply promoted as having a therapeutic use it will be exempt, because it makes the legislation meaningless. I ask you to reflect on the answer that you have given and see if you can provide me with a satisfactory explanation.