Cannabis Industry Motion
I speak on behalf of The Greens to support the motion. It is high time that we legalise cannabis in New South Wales. The legal cannabis industry is a massive and rapidly growing global industry that is worth tens of billions of dollars and creates hundreds of thousands of jobs. In Canada and the United States [US], the legal cannabis market has generated billions of dollars in revenue and created whole new industries. It has freed up police resources, reduced the harm of the black market and ensured that people can access a safer, regulated product. Here in New South Wales, people are still being dragged through the courts for possessing small amounts of cannabis, and patients are still struggling to access their medicine or having to choose between it and driving due to discriminatory drug testing laws that test for the mere presence of THC, not impairment, while the billions of dollars that could be funding our hospitals, schools and housing are instead being handed to organised crime.
Medicinal cannabis is just the beginning. If we were to legalise cannabis for recreational use in New South Wales, as countries like Canada, Georgia, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Germany and Uruguay and at least 24 US states have, the benefits would be enormous. We could build a whole new agricultural and manufacturing sector, create thousands of new jobs, especially in regional areas, and fund vital public services through increased revenue. Most importantly, we could end the failed experiment of prohibition that has caused far more harm than the plant itself ever could. What an understatement that is.
More than 40 per cent of us have tried cannabis. The latest data from the National Drug Strategy Household Survey of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found that 68 per cent of Australians think that the possession of small amounts of cannabis for personal use should not be a criminal offence, while just 17 per cent think it should be a criminal offence, with 15 per cent being unsure. New South Wales once led the way on drug harm minimisation, but it is now being left behind. The Victorian Government has a plan for its medicinal cannabis industry and the ACT Government has removed criminal sanctions for the use and possession of cannabis for personal use. Let us hurry up and develop a medicinal cannabis industry policy to support the industry here in New South Wales, but let us not lose focus on the real goal here: to end the war on drugs and just legalise it.
Full motion:
(1)That this House notes that:
(a)the global legal cannabis industry was valued at approximately $50 billion in 2022 and is forecast to grow to more than $400 billion within the coming decade;
(b)in the United States, the legal cannabis sector generates over $33 billion annually and supports more than 440,000 jobs, making it one of the fastest growing employment sectors;
(c)in Canada, the legal cannabis industry directly contributes more than $16 billion annually to GDP and supports over 227,000 jobs, surpassing the economic contribution of several traditional industries, including brewing and forestry;
(d)by comparison, Australia's dairy industry employs around 33,500 people and contributes approximately $6 billion annually to the economy;
(e)Australia's medicinal cannabis market is projected to grow from nearly $1 billion in 2024 to over $1.2 billion by 2028, despite the absence of a comprehensive development framework; and
(f)the Victorian Government has recognised this opportunity and adopted a Medicinal Cannabis Industry Development Plan, with a stated goal of supplying half of Australia's medicinal cannabis by 2028 and creating 500 jobs in the process.
(2)That this House calls on the Government to:
(a)develop a medicinal cannabis industry policy to support the growth of this emerging sector in New South Wales;
(b)consider measures to assist the industry off the ground, including research and development support, investment attraction, workforce training and streamlined regulation; and
(c)ensure New South Wales is positioned to benefit economically and socially from the global growth of the medicinal cannabis industry.