https://dandenong.starcommunity.com.au/news/2023-08-17/mp-backs-cannabis-reform/A South Eastern Metropolitan MP is advocating for cannabis law reforms, after research revealed half of Australians think cannabis should be taxed and regulated like alcohol and tobacco.
Legalise Cannabis Victoria MP for the Upper House, Rachel Payne, said the party is seeking “sensible and meaningful reform” to end the criminalisation of personal use cannabis.
It comes as new Essential Report research found 53 per cent of Labor voters and nearly 50 per cent of Coalition voters were in agreement over cannabis regulation.
Ms Payne said the polling shows the “Australian war on drugs does not work”.
“The cost of prohibition from cannabis-related law enforcement spending takes not only an enormous economic toll, but it does nothing for harm minimisation in our community,” she said.
“If a majority of voters think the same, isn’t it time our government got on the right side of history by reforming outdated laws, in line with community expectations?”
Just 26 per cent of people are opposed to the regulation and taxation of cannabis, the report found, offering a signal that many Australians would support change in the field.
The polling follows the Legalise Cannabis Party simultaneously introducing their Regulation of Cannabis for Personal Adult Use Bill 2023 in Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia in June.
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