Legalization advocates say the country’s cannabis industry is booming, and that its going to be a long, hard road to get the laws in place.
“I think Australia’s legal weed market is going to take some time to develop and grow,” says Robyn Young, who is leading a group of lawyers who are trying to get a bill passed in parliament in the coming months.
But she says there is plenty of evidence that legal weed is helping people with chronic pain, and the government’s response is “truly remarkable”.
“I mean, there are so many positive outcomes,” Ms Young says.
“It’s not just for the pain patients and the cannabis users who are in need of treatment and support.”
The people who are suffering the most are the elderly, people with serious medical conditions, people who have cancer or cancer-related conditions.
“So why did the government go all-in on the drug?
Ms Young says the government wanted to avoid the backlash of the former Labor government, which introduced a strict, punitive national policy that targeted cannabis users.”
They wanted to get out of that debate and go for the middle ground,” she says.”[The law] is about treating patients, not about criminalising people for their use of cannabis.
“The bill will be debated in parliament next month.
Topics:cannabis,law-crime-and-justice,health,health-policy,legal-health-practice,government-and/or-politics,parliament,government,australiaFirst posted September 01, 2019 16:47:24Contact Nicola WalkerMore stories from Victoria
