Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to table an explanatory memorandum relating to the bill.

Leave granted.

I table an explanatory memorandum and I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

2RS— Australian Cannabis Agency Bill 2018

The war on drugs is a war on people.

The approach to illicit drug use in this country has been an unmitigated disaster, and it is time our political leaders had some courage and recognised that we need to start treating the issue of drug use as a health issue, not as a law-and-order issue. We need to reform our laws and introduce the right regulatory framework to make that vision a reality.

The current approach to the prohibition of cannabis causes a great deal more harm than it prevents. Around the world we are seeing governments recognise this and start to change their laws on this issue. Recreational cannabis is now legal in some states in the United States, Canada and some South American countries. Only last week Congressman Joe Kennedy said in an opinion piece that the United States should legalise cannabis on a federal level. He was previously a sceptic, but is now advocating for federal legalisation in the United States because recreational cannabis use should be treated as a health issue, not a criminal one. He recognises, as we implore the Australian Government to do with this bill, that a regulated recreational cannabis market is the best way to achieve this.

Nearly seven million Australians, well over a third of Australians, have used cannabis at some point in their life. This drug is being used widely, despite the current illegality of it.

Cannabis has potential harms associated with its use—there is no question of this. It's a drug like many other drugs, be they legal or illegal, and therefore has a range of effects on human physiology. We know that the young developing brain should not be exposed to cannabis, in the same way as it shouldn't be exposed to alcohol.

While cannabis is not a harmless drug; neither is paracetamol. The more interesting question is how harmful it is relative to other substances. There is no doubt in my mind, and in the view of many health professionals, that cannabis is a much safer drug than alcohol, a drug that is currently legal; indeed, many would say our society is awash with alcohol.

You can't overdose when it comes to cannabis. You can overdose when it comes to other drugs. Indeed, you can become very unwell and die from alcohol toxicity. People who consume vast quantities of alcohol can aspirate it, and aspiration is a common cause of death amongst young people. That simply doesn't happen when it comes to cannabis. We know that alcohol has a whole range of other effects on people's livers; it can be a cause of liver failure and liver cancer. We know that that's simply not the case when it comes to cannabis. Alcohol has a whole range of effects on the gastrointestinal system—things that aren't seen with cannabis consumption. The reality is that if we are applying the standard of cannabis being a harmful drug, then, by that same standard, we should make alcohol illegal. We don't, because we accept that the use of alcohol also comes with a range of benefits to the community. People continue to use it; they do it because they enjoy it, and they'll continue to do it regardless of what policymakers suggest.

But, beyond the relative harm of cannabis compared to alcohol, the more important question is: what are the harms happening right now under our current system? We know those harms are significant. We know that many people are exposed to drugs of unknown quality and purity. They are being driven to purchase their drugs through a network of criminal dealers. And what we see is a current system that props up criminality and that redirects resources away from where they're needed, to prosecute these laws which are having no effect deterring people from using the drug. They divert a huge amount of taxpayer money into areas that aren't working, when we could be investing in a whole range of areas that we know do work.

Let's be very clear about what we need to do when it comes to cannabis. We need to ensure that our laws reduce harm and reflect the fact that cannabis is actually less harmful than some currently available, and legal, drugs.

The bill that I am introducing today, the Australian Cannabis Agency Bill 2018 creates a regulated legal market for cannabis, with a new federal government agency—the Australian Cannabis Agency—as the sole buyer and wholesaler of recreational cannabis. This will be achieved through the Agency issuing licences for the production of cannabis and the sale of cannabis.

Any Australian will be eligible to apply for a production licence, and the Agency will grant these licences subject to conditions set by the Agency in conjunction with the board. These conditions will include: that the licence holder cannot distribute recreational cannabis other than by selling it to the Agency; and that the licence holder must permit the Agency to inspect the premises at which cannabis is being produced.

Similarly, any Australian will be eligible to apply for a distribution licence. These licences will have a number of more specific conditions on them. These conditions will mean that recreational cannabis can: only be sold to people over 18 years of age, and only that which is sold by the Agency. This cannabis will be sold in plain packaging with any warnings determined by the Agency at the time of distribution. People who are licensed to distribute it will be trained in mental health first aid and the responsible distribution of it. Finally, all licences will be granted with the condition that the premises at which cannabis is sold could be, at any time, inspected by the Agency.

In effect, this will mean that- rather than being purchased through a criminal dealer, who has no interest in the welfare of the user, cannabis would be regulated in the same way that tobacco is.

The training that the bill requires people who sell cannabis to have will help ensure that anybody identified as having a problem with cannabis use is redirected into treatment.

In our plan there would be no advertising or sponsorship for cannabis. We don't want to make the same mistakes that were made in the alcohol industry. We'd be promoting small-scale production and ensuring that people are getting access to a regulated product.

The Agency will be governed by a Board which will have members from every State and Territory Government and experts from the areas of harm reduction, clinical expertise, mental health, user advocates and law enforcement.

The Agency will be required to carry out a program of monitoring and a review of the scheme after the first two years of its establishment. The bill requires that this review is provided to the Minister, and that the Minister must respond in writing within six months of the review. Both the review and the response must be tabled in both houses of Parliament. This public accountability will ensure that there is ongoing public scrutiny of the scheme and how it is operating.

This bill will support Australians to grow cannabis at home for personal use. Some states and territories already allow this to happen, but under this bill it will start to be harmonised so that people can grow up to seven plants in their backyard, providing it's for their own personal use. Those people wouldn't be able to sell what they have grown, because we want to ensure we have a regulated market in the same way as we have for other markets, but those people would be free to grow and produce their own product.

Our plan would impose strict penalties on the sale of unlicenced or black market cannabis. If people are going to access a regulated product of known quality and purity from a known grower, we have to ensure the market has clear regulations associated with it.

Importantly, the bill provides exceptions for the production and distribution of medicinal cannabis and applies only to recreational cannabis. The Australian Greens are supportive of medicinal cannabis being regulated in a separate way, and are continuing our efforts to ensure that all Australians have equitable access to cannabis to help their medical conditions. We will continue working to ensure that these pathways are simple and affordable.

This bill is limited by a number of Constitutional requirements, which—when it is passed—we will seek to overcome. The bill applies only in the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. However, the scheme could apply nationally if all states were to refer their powers to regulate cannabis under paragraph 51 (xxxvii) of the Constitution. When this bill passes, we will work with our colleagues in state governments to have them sign up to the scheme. This will ensure that we have a consistent national scheme, which will reduce confusion and ensure that people are not able to access regulated cannabis in one state, but only able to access it via the black market in another.

Similarly, the Constitution provides that a law imposing taxation must not originate in the Senate and section 55 provides that a law imposing taxation must deal only with the imposition of taxation. When this bill passes, we will work with our colleagues in the other place to ensure that over time all elements of the scheme we propose will be legislated and implemented.

After this is passed, we will also work to reduce some of the existing criminal penalties associated with the use of cannabis. However, it is important to have a regulated scheme in place before that happens—to ensure drug dealers don't simply get a free pass with reduced penalties prior to having a well thought through, regulated scheme in place.

The speech was not available at the time of publishing.

I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.