news, act-politics

The Labor frontbench will flag plans to set a limit on the number of cannabis plants households can have, when a bill to legalise the drug returns to the ACT Legislative Assembly. It will also move to keep the number of plants an individual can legally grow at two and set restrictions to stop the drug being grown on verges. The parliament will debate in principle on Wednesday the private member's bill from Labor backbencher Michael Pettersson which removes the possession of under 50g of cannabis as a criminal offence and allows individuals to cultivate up to four plants. The bill has attracted general support from the rest of the Labor Party and the Greens, although both parties have a string of amendments to bring forward in coming months. The Labor executive is still drafting its amendments, but it is understood frontbenchers want to retain the current cultivation limit of two plants and bring in a total household limit. This will address concerns that a sharehouse with six residents could legally have 24 plants, so long as each tenant was looking after their four and they were not grown with any artificial lights. They also want to restrict cannabis growing to a backyard or private fenced area, and to stop the plant being grown on nature strips, in community gardens or in other places accessible to the general public. The Greens' drug law reform spokesman Shane Rattenbury previously suggested there could be issues with theft if cannabis was allowed to be grown on verges, and that doing so would also be "counterproductive" given plants grown on verges are restricted to 50 centimetres. Labor's other prospective amendments would introduce restrictions on how cannabis can be stored, so children or other vulnerable people could not easily access it, and bring in greater protections to ensure they are not exposed to cannabis smoke. They would also seek to distinguish between wet and dry cannabis to reflect differences in weight at different stages of processing. Their amendments will also likely include definitions to help ACT Policing clearly distinguish between small-scale, individual cannabis users and those involved in more serious or organised crime. Labor is also looking at how the bill interacts with ACT and other Commonwealth legislation, amid concerns that the territory could face a High Court challenge because cannabis is considered an illicit drug under the federal criminal code. Ahead of the debate, Mr Pettersson said he was excited to see contributions from all political parties, and looked forward to debate on the amendments as they emerged. "I think Canberra is ready for this sensible debate on legalising cannabis. Most people support legalisation and it's about time the laws reflected it," he said. Meanwhile the Greens will push forward with more amendments to allow medicinal cannabis users to possess a higher amount of the drug. Mr Rattenbury said the current system involved multiple layers of approval through both ACT Health and the Therapeutic Goods Administration, and the scheme was "not working for those who need it". "Under the current scheme cannabis is the last option for patients who have to prove they have tried treatments from every other drug category, many of which have significant side effects," Mr Rattenbury said. "It also remains difficult for patients to find a doctor in the ACT who will prescribe medicinal cannabis. The approval process for doctors and pharmacists remains long and complicated, meaning access to the medication can be seriously delayed, sometimes for months. These kinds of restrictions don’t exist for any other medication." The Greens will also move to set up an independent cannabis advisory council to advise government on the new legislation, and allow the drug to be grown hydroponically.

https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/b39b84d5-6335-4b8a-be81-4009eb443bb5/r0_102_2000_1232_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg