Lawmakers Criticized In Australia For Failing To Legalize Cannabis

A lawmaker in Australia is criticizing his peers for failing to approve an adult-use cannabis legalization measure this year. Legalise Cannabis WA MP Dr. Brian Walker recently lashed out at Australia’s federal government for failing to take advantage of the robust economic benefits that recreational cannabis legalization creates.

“Dr Walker hit out at what he called the “pig-headed intransigence of the federal government” after it helped vote down Greens Senator David Shoebridge’s Legalising Cannabis Bill 2023 in November.” Cannabiz stated in its local coverage.

“Late last month, we watched the Labor and Liberal parties vote down a proposal to legalise cannabis in the federal senate,” Dr. Walker said according to Cannabiz.

Currently, cannabis is legal for adult use in Uruguay, Canada, Malta, Luxembourg, Germany, and South Africa. Additionally, two dozen states in the U.S. have adopted recreational cannabis legalization measures, and regional adult-use cannabis commerce pilot trials are operating in the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Medical cannabis sales in Australia have quadrupled during the last two years, with Australians expected to spend an estimated $1 billion on medical cannabis this year. Medical cannabis was first legalized in Australia in 2016.

“The Pennington Institute’s Cannabis in Australia report has revealed spending has skyrocketed from $230 million two years ago to a predicted $1 billion by the end of this year.” 9News stated in its local coverage.

“The spending correlates with usage, which jumped from just 3.9 per cent of survey respondents in 2019 to almost 30 per cent admitting they use prescription marijuana.” the outlet also reported.