Legalise Cannabis Australia
Apr. 24th, 2022 09:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
b_auspolLegalise Cannabis Australia
Website: https://legalise.org.au/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LegaliseParty
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Legalise.Party
(My review for the 2021 WA Election)
It’s the party formerly known as HEMP (Help End Marijuana Prohibition)! They were founded in 1993 and have been campaigning for their single issue ever since. Their issue? Well, the name gives it away. Legalise Cannabis.
For a party that are approaching their fourth decade of existence, their position really hasn’t changed and their shift to professionalism has been extremely slow, given they actually do have two Legislative Council seats in WA now.
The WA branch and the Federal branch aren’t a complete overlap in people, but I do have to note that Legalise Cannabis were the only MPs to vote against COVID vaccine mandates for MPs in WA, with one of them describing vaccines as “medical apartheid”.
So, they definitely have some antivaxxers in their wheelhouse, which is important to know.
Party Analysis
Their listed party policies revolve around cannabis and hemp only. They are: allow personal use; grow plants at home; ease medical access; regulate commerce; relax hemp rules; reform driving laws; and expunge convictions.
Look, Legalise Cannabis say they want cannabis treated like alcohol or tobacco. In that case, being able to grow your own plants at home is not necessarily something that’s going to occur. And I have to say, I wouldn’t be hugely upset if there was a regulation issue – if they want it treated like a legal, easily accessible drug, it would be better to have it properly tested for levels of active components and only grown under licence. I mean, that’s what we do for opium. The couple of ‘tomato’ plants growing down near the compost heap, while not likely to cause many issues, isn’t necessarily the best approach to regulating a product. If the argument is that this is a medical product, then it should be regulated and tested like a medical product. Alcohol has to be sold with the ABV. Tobacco has to be sold with warnings about the harm and the components.
In terms of reforming road rules, they would like previous convictions expunged, a defence for medicinal users having it in their system, and for the barrier level to be “impairment, not presence”. Do we have a good definition of how much THC in your system counts as an impairment? Also, if we do find that, then medicinal users should not be driving when above that limit, because we don’t let people affected with opioids drive either.
They would like state-regulated testing facilities so people could bring their crops in to be tested (like a pill testing service, I suppose), but I do have to say, why have this go-around when instead you just...legislate that anyone selling it has to provide evidence of the make up? That’s what we do for food sales, for goodness sakes, even people selling home cooked food have regulations they have to meet.
I guess I’m just not as free and casual and easy as the folk over at Legalise Cannabis.
In the health section, we are told very seriously “Cannabis and hemp are known for their health benefits and since they have been removed from our diet, we have seen an explosion of diseases such as cancer, dementia and autoimmune conditions that were once relatively rare.” Mates. I don’t think the increase in cancer, dementia and autoimmune conditions are linked to lack of use of CANNABIS, I think they’re linked to extended life spans, better healthcare meaning we’ve solved many other ways people used to die, and the fact we are better able to diagnose them these days! In any case, Legalise Cannabis think that regular use of their favourite drug could prevent ill-health.
You know, cannabis has been legal in parts of North America for long enough now. You’d think we would have actual medical studies by now showing what actual medical benefits there are. But instead we still get these overoptimistic hypothetical claims. Could the wonder drug not be as wondrous as claimed?
In any case, Legalise Cannabis would like medicinal cannabis treated more seriously with easier prescription and more doctors and experts giving advice on what to use. You know what? That’s something we don’t appear to have medical advice for.
I do enjoy the suggestion that “state revenues” (that would be tax) from cannabis sales could help fund the health system and more nurses. But folks, you were telling me how you all wanted to grow it at home! Are you depriving the health system from their increased financial support?
Is this party trying to kill me?
I’d say no, in that Legalise Cannabis still accept that you shouldn’t be driving when impaired.
Is this party trying to harm me?
Well the medical apartheid comments from WA give me pause, in that clearly Legalise Cannabis have demonstrated they have dodgy views outside of the platform on their website. Also I’m not convinced by their free and easy attitude towards access to cannabis without testing, regulation or someone checking in is likely to be harmless.
Conclusion:
Legalise Cannabis want one thing and one thing only – legal cannabis. While I support deregulation and a legal industry, I guess I’m enough of a square that I would like that industry to be property regulated with standards to meet, rather than just a free-for-all in the garden.
Website: https://legalise.org.au/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LegaliseParty
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Legalise.Party
(My review for the 2021 WA Election)
It’s the party formerly known as HEMP (Help End Marijuana Prohibition)! They were founded in 1993 and have been campaigning for their single issue ever since. Their issue? Well, the name gives it away. Legalise Cannabis.
For a party that are approaching their fourth decade of existence, their position really hasn’t changed and their shift to professionalism has been extremely slow, given they actually do have two Legislative Council seats in WA now.
The WA branch and the Federal branch aren’t a complete overlap in people, but I do have to note that Legalise Cannabis were the only MPs to vote against COVID vaccine mandates for MPs in WA, with one of them describing vaccines as “medical apartheid”.
So, they definitely have some antivaxxers in their wheelhouse, which is important to know.
Party Analysis
Their listed party policies revolve around cannabis and hemp only. They are: allow personal use; grow plants at home; ease medical access; regulate commerce; relax hemp rules; reform driving laws; and expunge convictions.
Look, Legalise Cannabis say they want cannabis treated like alcohol or tobacco. In that case, being able to grow your own plants at home is not necessarily something that’s going to occur. And I have to say, I wouldn’t be hugely upset if there was a regulation issue – if they want it treated like a legal, easily accessible drug, it would be better to have it properly tested for levels of active components and only grown under licence. I mean, that’s what we do for opium. The couple of ‘tomato’ plants growing down near the compost heap, while not likely to cause many issues, isn’t necessarily the best approach to regulating a product. If the argument is that this is a medical product, then it should be regulated and tested like a medical product. Alcohol has to be sold with the ABV. Tobacco has to be sold with warnings about the harm and the components.
In terms of reforming road rules, they would like previous convictions expunged, a defence for medicinal users having it in their system, and for the barrier level to be “impairment, not presence”. Do we have a good definition of how much THC in your system counts as an impairment? Also, if we do find that, then medicinal users should not be driving when above that limit, because we don’t let people affected with opioids drive either.
They would like state-regulated testing facilities so people could bring their crops in to be tested (like a pill testing service, I suppose), but I do have to say, why have this go-around when instead you just...legislate that anyone selling it has to provide evidence of the make up? That’s what we do for food sales, for goodness sakes, even people selling home cooked food have regulations they have to meet.
I guess I’m just not as free and casual and easy as the folk over at Legalise Cannabis.
In the health section, we are told very seriously “Cannabis and hemp are known for their health benefits and since they have been removed from our diet, we have seen an explosion of diseases such as cancer, dementia and autoimmune conditions that were once relatively rare.” Mates. I don’t think the increase in cancer, dementia and autoimmune conditions are linked to lack of use of CANNABIS, I think they’re linked to extended life spans, better healthcare meaning we’ve solved many other ways people used to die, and the fact we are better able to diagnose them these days! In any case, Legalise Cannabis think that regular use of their favourite drug could prevent ill-health.
You know, cannabis has been legal in parts of North America for long enough now. You’d think we would have actual medical studies by now showing what actual medical benefits there are. But instead we still get these overoptimistic hypothetical claims. Could the wonder drug not be as wondrous as claimed?
In any case, Legalise Cannabis would like medicinal cannabis treated more seriously with easier prescription and more doctors and experts giving advice on what to use. You know what? That’s something we don’t appear to have medical advice for.
I do enjoy the suggestion that “state revenues” (that would be tax) from cannabis sales could help fund the health system and more nurses. But folks, you were telling me how you all wanted to grow it at home! Are you depriving the health system from their increased financial support?
Is this party trying to kill me?
I’d say no, in that Legalise Cannabis still accept that you shouldn’t be driving when impaired.
Is this party trying to harm me?
Well the medical apartheid comments from WA give me pause, in that clearly Legalise Cannabis have demonstrated they have dodgy views outside of the platform on their website. Also I’m not convinced by their free and easy attitude towards access to cannabis without testing, regulation or someone checking in is likely to be harmless.
Conclusion:
Legalise Cannabis want one thing and one thing only – legal cannabis. While I support deregulation and a legal industry, I guess I’m enough of a square that I would like that industry to be property regulated with standards to meet, rather than just a free-for-all in the garden.
