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karode13
Tāne Mahuta




Registered: 05/19/05
Posts: 15,290
Loc: LV-426
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Canberra's cannabis laws do not address supply problem, meaning buying the drug will remain illegal
#26428593 - 01/11/20 05:46 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Canberra's cannabis laws do not address supply problem, meaning buying the drug will remain illegal
By Tom Lowrey
Link to article: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-12/canberra-cannabis-will-soon-be-legal-finding-it-might-be-tricky/11816032
Cannabis will be legal in the ACT come the end of the month, but those hoping to light up might have to break the law to do so.
The controversial new laws legalise growing, possessing and smoking small quantities of cannabis.
If you are over 18 you can grow the plant, collect up to 50 grams of dried bud, and smoke it as you like within your own home (provided there are no children around).
But the laws do not offer any guidance at all on how it is supposed to be acquired.
There will not be any cannabis shops opening up, as buying and selling the drug remains strictly illegal.
It also cannot be gifted from one person to another.
Cultivating two plants — to a limit of four per household — is perfectly legal but buying cannabis seeds is not.
Key points:
- Buying, selling and trading cannabis after January 31 will remain illegal in the ACT
- Academics are worried potential pot purchasers will go to drug dealers
- Calls for "cannabis social clubs" have been rejected by the ACT Government
Professor Simon Lenton from Curtin University's National Drug Research Institute argued the laws left people looking to use cannabis with few options outside of drug dealers.
"Either they're going to go to the illegal market or they're going to miss out," he said.
"It really is a problem for how the majority of people in the ACT who smoke cannabis are going to access the cannabis."
The ACT Government is quite clear on the matter, arguing its approach is around "harm minimisation", not opening doors to cannabis for potential users.
"This approach seeks to ensure that adults who are in possession of cannabis do not have to face the prospect of criminal penalty for possession and are more easily able to seek help for addiction or treatment for the adverse effects of cannabis," a spokesperson said.
"It is not the Government's intention to legalise the gifting of cannabis between individuals, other acts of supply, or the commercial sale of cannabis."
Could weed shops work?
New Zealand is currently weighing up its options on legalising cannabis, ahead of a referendum on the question in late 2020.
The current plan suggests a tightly regulated commercial model, with cannabis sold in licensed shops.
It would not be advertised, or sold to anyone under 20 and the potency of cannabis sold will be restricted.
Like the ACT, the New Zealand Government is also pitching legalisation as a harm minimisation measure.
"The primary objective of the legislation is to reduce overall cannabis use and limit the ability of young people to access cannabis," New Zealand Justice Minister Andrew Little said.
Anyone who wants to smoke it can do so at home, and in licensed venues — but not where alcohol is being sold.
It raises the possibility of cannabis cafes, like those found in parts of Europe.
"You might be able to enjoy a cup of coffee or tea with your cannabis product, but not alcohol," Mr Little said.
Some ACT MLAs have indicated they could be supportive of commercialisation down the track, arguing it would help cut criminal gangs out of the cannabis business.
But it will not be an option for the foreseeable future, due to federal regulations that cannot be overcome.
Professor Lenton said going by the experience in North America, adding profit to the mix did not necessarily work out.
He argued it encouraged the consumption of ever-stronger strains of cannabis.
"What we've heard about in North America is very much commercially driven, profit-driven markets, where industry is really in the market trying to maximize its profit," he said.
"And then we get the very serious problems that we've seen associated with alcohol and tobacco use and a lot of the problems that are emerging now look like the worst of that."
'Social clubs' floated as possible solution
An ACT parliamentary inquiry considered many of these issues while the legislation was still being drafted, and made a range of recommendations.
One was allowing cannabis 'social clubs' of up to 10 people to be formed, as a way of getting around some of the supply issues.
Social clubs would essentially allow users to pool their plants — growing plants together at one single property.
Membership would be restricted and registered, and plants would be grown on behalf of members, who could then access their cannabis free of charge.
Professor Lenton said, having surveyed the models in place around the world, social clubs appeared to offer the best legal middle ground.
He argued it provided an easy option for people unable or unwilling to grow their own plants.
"It's a way of providing cannabis in a restricted market without the problems of widespread availability, rampant commercialisation and profit-driven advertising to people who are regular cannabis users," he said.
"Rather than having them go to the illicit market."
The ACT Government rejected the recommendation, suggesting it went beyond the intention of the legislation and would have made it difficult for police to distinguish between cannabis clubs and illegal grow houses.
Whether or not supply becomes a problem for users — and the ACT Government — will become apparent in just a matter of weeks when the legislation comes into effect.
A public information campaign is planned to roll out before the laws come into force, which might give some indication that the Government expects users to put the new laws into practice.
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Holybullshit
Stranger
Registered: 01/06/19
Posts: 1,553
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Re: Canberra's cannabis laws do not address supply problem, meaning buying the drug will remain illegal [Re: karode13] 1
#26428972 - 01/11/20 11:47 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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This is a beginning, not an end. And honestly I would have rather seen cannabis legalization here follow a similar path, rather than laws which encourage the creation of a cannabis-industrial complex and make the development of oligarchies in the industry all but inevitable.
Obviously the amounts aren't great, same for no gifting, no seeds. But I would have preferred starting with simple laws which allowed for small-scale grows and grassroots distribution, and then scaled them up while maintaining a laissez-faire market, than see the what the industry has become when saddled with onerous regulation and contorted by politicians in an attempt to wring out as much tax revenue as possible while maintaining absolute control.
Our model doesn't end the war on cannabis, and it never will as it incentivizes the state to ramp it up in an attempt to collect more tax revenue...just look at what is happening in California right now.
The social club model looks pretty attractive to me, I don't know if I would accept it as an end goal but it would put things on a much better path than the current industry model. Perhaps social clubs could be a path forward for recreational cannabis in red/purple states.
Edited by Holybullshit (01/12/20 01:18 AM)
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Captn
Space Cowboy


Registered: 01/13/20
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Re: Canberra's cannabis laws do not address supply problem, meaning buying the drug will remain illegal [Re: Holybullshit]
#26430795 - 01/13/20 07:46 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
buying cannabis seeds is not. {legal}
I have legally purchased cannabis seeds, from overseas and within the borders of OZ, for collection/preservation and souvenir purposes only of course  I've asked this question of a few cops and a couple of solicitors. Two cops swore they are illegal, so did one of the solicitors. The others corroborated what I've said. The odds are that half the legal system doesn't know themselves. It is illegal to import them through customs (I have had some seized), without correct permits, however there are vendors in country. It becomes illegal to buy if you intend on growing those same cannabis seeds. I think that if an ACT resident wanted to collect some seeds, for the sake of preservation and souvenir purposes, then decided to "throw them away" in a pot in the back yard, into which they had also disposed of some dirt and fertilizer, then it would be ok for them to grow the plant that may or may not, completely naturally grow in that pot, as the law says they now have a right to.....after jan 31.
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Fractal420
Psycellium



Registered: 06/21/13
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Re: Canberra's cannabis laws do not address supply problem, meaning buying the drug will remain illegal [Re: Captn]
#26430993 - 01/13/20 10:17 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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In the US, at least, cannabis seeds are federally illegal because it’s a part of the plant which is banned at the federal level by the CSA
That said, in legal states you can purchase seedlings, and growing is legal in most of the legal states
Also, you can totally buy cannabis seeds and likely no one will care, but it’s still “not 100% legal”
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viraldrome



Registered: 09/21/18
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Re: Canberra's cannabis laws do not address supply problem, meaning buying the drug will remain illegal [Re: Fractal420]
#26432059 - 01/13/20 07:59 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Not everyone lives in a place they can grow. I can legally grow 4 plants but my building prohibited growing. People should be able to rent a storage unit and grow there instead of only rich people who own property being allowed to grow.
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PsychoReactive
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Registered: 05/22/09
Posts: 2,562
Loc: Cocalero
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Re: Canberra's cannabis laws do not address supply problem, meaning buying the drug will remain illegal [Re: viraldrome]
#26435708 - 01/15/20 09:33 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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They should ban plastic, not cannabis.
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Doc9151
Mycologist



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Loc: Gulf Coast USA
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Re: Canberra's cannabis laws do not address supply problem, meaning buying the drug will remain illegal [Re: PsychoReactive]
#26439257 - 01/17/20 08:47 PM (4 years, 30 days ago) |
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Quote:
PsychoReactive said: They should ban plastic, not cannabis.
Hell yeah!!!!
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