Cannabis use in the Australian Capital Territory has not increased and remains below national averages since decriminalised in 2020, a review has found. The Minister for Population Health, Emma Davidson, tabled a Health Directorate paper that reviewed the four-year impact of the Drugs of Dependence (Personal Cannabis Use) Amendment Bill 2018 (Cannabis Bill), which became law in 2020.
The legislation removed criminal penalties for adults possessing small amounts of cannabis and for cultivating one or two cannabis plants at home. This apparently hasn’t encouraged Canberrans to take up this opportunity, despite fears at the time it would. A National Drug Strategy Household Survey indicated 8.7% of ACT residents said they’d recently used cannabis in 2022-23, down slightly from 10.5% in 2019 and well below early 2000s rates, which peaked at 14.4% in 2001.
Canberrans remain less likely to use cannabis than Australians in general – with a nationwide recent use rate of 11.5% in 2022-23. The review also found charges laid for cannabis offences and diversions have continued to decline to very low levels and that there has been no increase in charges laid for trafficking or cultivation offences since the commencement of the Act. There has also been no evident changes in the price and availability of cannabis.
“When the proposed cannabis reforms were first introduced in the Legislative Assembly in 2018 there was significant debate about the potential positive and negative impacts of decriminalising cannabis use in the ACT” Minister Davidson said. “Some feared an increase in harms related to cannabis use, including an increased burden on our health system and an increase in organised crime. I stand before you today with clear evidence that many of the fears raised have not been realised”.