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ESSAY
(CHOSEN TOPIC: 2. WITH CONSIDERED REFERENCE TO SCHOLARLY LITERATURE ON THE SUBJECT, ASSESS THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CANNABIS LEGALISATION IN AUSTRALIA.)
Table of Contents
Introduction    3
History    3
Legislation on Cannabis and its Recreational Use    4
Disadvantages of Cannabis Legalisation in Australia    4
Advantages of Cannabis Legalisation in Australia    6
Conclusion    7
References    9
Introduction
Marijuana also known as Cannabis and pot (on streets) is one of the most commonly and widely used medicine and recreational drug that is also used by people for non-medicinal uses in order to relax or get high. It has been reported that more than one-third of Australians, aged 22 or older uses cannabis and around 300,000 individuals use cannabis on a daily basis. Recreational use of cannabis was cu
ently illegal in Australia until 25 September 2019, where Australian Capital Te
itory (ACT) passed a bill in order to legalise the recreational use of marijuana. This essay focuses upon the differential views related to this act and efforts will be made in order to conceptualise the advantages and disadvantages of legalising marijuana in Australia.
History
Not only in Australia, but also in all around the globe, marijuana or pot is one of the most widely used recreational drug. However, cannabis was bought in Australia on the request of Sir Joseph Banks in the form of hemp seeds and for next 150 years, early Australian government actively supported its cultivation, as a result of which cannabis consumption was widespread in Australia by 19th century. It would be essential to consider that unlike alcohol, heroin and other harmful drugs, cannabis has been proven to be medically harmless or less harmful and was also used as a medicine and popular intoxicant.
As a social opposition to the Vietnam War, 1960s have been observed as the era of increased cannabis use. Sa
e (1990) mentioned through their survey in 1973 that, around 22% of 20-29 year-old Australian individuals have used cannabis during their lifetime and this number increased to 56% by 1985. Further, the schools surveys of 1970s and 1980s reflected that the cannabis use in schools was increasing at an exponential rate. Indigenous Australian communities such as the Aboriginals and To
es Strait islanders have been found to be associated with the widespread use of tobacco, alcohol as well as cannabis and other illicit drugs among non-indigenous population of Australia.
Legislation on Cannabis and its Recreational Use
It would be essential to consider that despite the widespread use of cannabis or marijuana, Australian government never legalised its use until 2019. The widespread of cannabis as well as possession of cannabis was illegal according to the policies and acts launched by Australian government. Views on the legalisation cannabis are not a recent concept. Instead, NSW Joint Parliamentary Committee upon Drugs supported the decriminalisation of cannabis in 1978 and suggested that personal use of cannabis would not be considered as offence.
However, in 1979 Australian Royal Commission of Inquiry into Drugs suggested that decriminalisation would contradict UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and will lead to demand for decriminalisation of other drugs too. ‘National Campaign against Drug Abuse (NCADA)’ was established in 1985 as a result of backdrop of grown awareness and was based upon the concept of criminalisation and minimal harm. This campaign became the ‘National Drug Strategy’ and further modified as National Cannabis Strategy 2006-2009....