In Victoria, the Labor government along with the Opposition and members of the crossbench have backed an expert report calling for judges to have discretion to not cancel licences of those using legally prescribed medicinal cannabis. These drivers will be able to remain behind the wheel under a proposed interim measure to come into effect from 1 March, 2025.
The expert report, by former magistrate Tony Parsons, tabled in parliament on Wednesday, called on the government to provide the courts with judicial discretion not to cancel the licences of medicinal cannabis users. He said the interim proposal would act as a bridge between the present legislation and the findings of a government-funded trial into the impact of medical cannabis on driving, which was not expected until 2026.
Parsons, the former head of the magistrates drug court division, described the legal framework as grossly discriminatory and manifestly unfair. “Victorians with a valid doctor’s prescription for medicinal cannabis, who take that medication as instructed, are sanctioned for taking their medicine if they return a positive roadside test, even in the absence of any evidence of impairment” he wrote in the report, commissioned by the Legalise Cannabis MP David Ettershank. Read more here.
Meanwhile in New South Wales, a parliamentary report released on Thursday calls for a staged approach to reforming the regulatory apparatus for cannabis during the current term of parliament, including introduction of a medical defence for people driving with the substance in their system. The recommendations come a day before the first of the Minns government’s four-day drug summit starts on Friday in Griffith.
1 November, 2024