The commission said staff were now “collating and reviewing” the 33 responses logged over the two-month consultation period.
The commission added that it was too early to comment on the number of submissions for or against the proposals or how long it would take for it to make its final report to Attorney General Samuel Bulgin.
The consultation period started in July and closed at the start of this month.
The commission’s discussion paper examined whether the importation, production, distribution and sale of cannabis should remain illegal.
It also considered whether the home cultivation of cannabis for personal use should be decriminalised and if consumption and possession of cannabis should be decriminalised for minors.
Other changes under consideration included whether penalties for possession and consumption of the drug should be replaced with administrative penalties, such as fines, which do not result in a criminal conviction.
Convictions wiped clean
The authors of the report also looked at whether decriminalisation of cannabis should be limited to dried plant material and what limits on amounts that could be possessed might be imposed.
The document also examined the possibility that historic minor convictions for cannabis could be wiped from the record.
The commission’s proposals were backed in a submission by psychiatrist Dr. Marc Lockhart and attorney Orrie Merren.
The two drew up a 13-page submission to the Law Reform Commission in support of decriminalisation of the drug for personal use by adults in private homes.
They highlighted they did not want it decriminalised for minors and instead proposed that it should be “depenalised”, with an emphasis on diversion, education, counselling and treatment and confiscation of any cannabis or cannabis products.
The two also called for criminal records to be expunged for people with minor convictions for cannabis possession or consumption.
Merren told the Compass, “For children and minors, their solution is within the social services system. The criminal justice system is a poor protective system for children. It’s not helpful.”
Cannabis ‘not harmless’
The submission by Merren and Lockhart said, “We accept the commission’s method; cautious, incremental harm minimisation, not commercialisation … Cannabis is not harmless.
“The criminal justice system response to small-scale adult personal use has been a poor instrument for harms that matter.”
It added, “We do not ask for a market, clubs, cafes, pharmacy retail for non-medical use or adult-style decriminalisation for children.”
The submission said, however, “A possession-only measure without a lawful personal source leaves every decriminalised consumer in the hands of an illegal supplier.”
It added, “Personal cultivation does not solve the illegal market. The commission is right that its impact on the market will be ‘very limited’.”
But the two said personal cultivation of cannabis plants did three things that remained in line with UN conventions.
Their submission said it reduced dealer contact, avoided the appearance of the government having authorised a market, and kept “potency, product form and quantity” inside households, rather than “pushing demand toward resin, vapes and edibles that the commission rightfully fears”.
The commission’s review was sparked by a referendum on cannabis decriminalistion, held with two other questions, alongside the general election held in April 2025.
The poll showed 60.4% of those who voted either yes or no in the referendum – as opposed to those not voting on the issue at all on their ballot – backed less restrictive cannabis laws with 39.6 against.
