Cannabis Regulation in Australia:

Australia’s drug policies are not working. The evidence of that is visible in the data and, far more importantly, in the daily lives of our people and our communities.

The data reveals a steady rise in drug-involved deaths over the past two decades and overwhelmed treatment services, while the most-commonly consumed substances in Australia are increasingly available at prices that are steady or declining.

Meanwhile, profits from the drug trade are driving violence perpetrated by increasingly well-armed participants in a thriving criminal ecosystem.

These trends reflect the counterproductive results of a national drug strategy that overwhelmingly relies on law enforcement. Low-level possession and use offences continue to dominate anti-drug arrests; this costly, misdirected, and ineffective outcome neither limits drug supply nor reduces criminal profit.

Bold steps are needed to rethink how we protect people and communities, starting with the implementation of low-risk, maximum-impact interventions.

Establishing a regulated adult-use cannabis market is an example of such a policy: an evidence-based response that will reduce wasteful misallocation of law enforcement resources, shrink criminal organisations’ revenue, and generate resources to address key health and safety priorities.