Emma Davidson MLA says fears around cannabis decriminalisation have not been realised. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Cannabis use in the ACT has not increased and remains below national averages since the drug was decriminalised in 2020, a review has found.
Minister for Population Health and Greens’ MLA Emma Davidson has tabled a Health Directorate paper that reviewed the four-year impact of the Drugs of Dependence (Personal Cannabis Use) Amendment Bill 2018 (Cannabis Bill), which became law in 2020.
The legislation removed criminal penalties for adults possessing small amounts of cannabis and for cultivating one or two cannabis plants at home. This apparently hasn’t encouraged Canberrans to take up this opportunity, despite fears at the time it would.
A National Drug Strategy Household Survey indicated 8.7 per cent of ACT residents said they’d recently used cannabis in 2022-23, down slightly from 10.5 per cent in 2019 and well below early 2000s rates, which peaked at 14.4 per cent in 2001.
Canberrans remain less likely to use cannabis than Australians in general – with a nationwide recent use rate of 11.5 per cent in 2022-23.
The review also found charges laid for cannabis offences and diversions have continued to decline to very low levels and that there has been no increase in charges laid for trafficking or cultivation offences since the commencement of the Act. There has also been no evident changes in the price and availability of cannabis.
“When the proposed cannabis reforms were first introduced in the Legislative Assembly in 2018 there was significant debate about the potential positive and negative impacts of decriminalising cannabis use in the ACT,” Minister Davidson said.
“Some feared an increase in harms related to cannabis use, including an increased burden on our health system and an increase in organised crime. I stand before you today with clear evidence that many of the fears raised have not been realised.”
Under the sub-heading ‘fears not realised’, the review quotes Anita Mills, CEO of the Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Association ACT, saying: “I think the stats speak for themselves around cannabis use in the ACT. There hasn’t been a huge spike […] We use less cannabis in the ACT than nationally.”
Some ACT Policing representatives remain concerned about decriminalisation. Photo: ACT Policing.
The review noted ACT Policing representatives remained concerned that the reforms could be used by organised crime to supply cannabis while avoiding police engagement.
“Our primary concern is the linkage with organised crime and the creation of a fertile environment in Canberra [for organised crime]. As we’ve outlined in our 2021 submissions, [we have] some concerns that drug traffickers are supplying cannabis, using their knowledge of the new cannabis framework to enable trafficking,” ACT Policing representatives wrote in a submission.
The limitations of the review made this claim difficult to evaluate.
Minister Davidson said she believed the overall impact on policing had been positive.
“The review shows there has been a significant change in policing practices for cannabis following the legislative reforms,” she said.
“I commend ACT Policing for embracing a harm minimisation approach to drug use in the community. Their efforts to work within the intent of the reforms has enabled cannabis decriminalisation to have the intended effect of keeping people who use cannabis out of the justice system. According to the review, this has improved relationships between people who use cannabis and the police.”
The review into the impact of cannabis laws will eventually be published on the ACT Legislative Assembly website.
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