Victoria’s debate on legalising cannabis is heating up. Speaking on 3AW, David Ettershank from Legalise Cannabis Victoria argued that current laws waste police resources and criminalise thousands of Victorians.
When asked about Snoop Dogg’s AFL Grand Final visit, Ettershank joked that he wouldn’t be the first to enjoy cannabis at the MCG.
“If you go into the MCG on a big day and you sort of go off the path a little bit, you’ll see plenty of people enjoying a blunt around the field … drop a gummy and sit in there with a big crowd and a great game. It’s pretty bloody fantastic”, he said.
Thousands still face arrest
Ettershank said that each year, 10,000 Victorians face legal trouble for cannabis, with 4,000 arrests for personal cannabis use. “I talk to cops a lot and the last thing they want to do is waste their time and their energy on someone with with personal use”, he said.
Medicinal cannabis is legal and booming, with over 800 products available, including gummies, tinctures, and flower. Ettershank noted that the line between therapeutic and recreational use is blurring, with 750,000 Victorians consuming cannabis annually.
An earlier caller argued that legalisation overseas has resulted in cities smellling like cannabis. Ettershank disagreed and said proper regulation can keep cannabis use away from public spaces.
“Our position here in Victoria is it should be treated like tobacco … there’s places you can smoke and there’s places you can’t. It’s perfectly reasonable people have good air and it’s perfectly reasonable that people can consume cannabis without being arrested,” he said.
The road ahead for legalising cannabis
Evidence from the ACT, which decriminalised cannabis five years ago, shows that increased crime fears never materialised. “The only thing that had changed was the number of people falling foul of the law, and that had dropped by 94%,” Ettershank explained.
Ettershank believes legalisation is inevitable, but calls for a staged approach. “In the first instance we’re looking for, you know, at least stop arresting our people as a reasonable start. Then there needs to be a mature discussion about, if we do legalise, what does that actually look like in terms of a commercial market.”
As the momentum builds in Australia, the question remains: will Victoria follow the ACT and global trend toward cannabis legalisation?
Listen to the full interview below.
