MEDIA RELEASE: Interim Report Issued By Cannabis Inquiry

In August 2024, former President of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties and former NSW Director of Public Prosecutions, Nicholas Cowdery AO KC FAAL appeared at the NSW inquiry into the impact of the regulatory framework for cannabis on behalf of NSWCCL. 

A copy of our submissions can be found here

A copy of our press release with comments by Nicholas Cowdery AO KC FAAL can be found here. 

NSWCCL submitted that cannabis in New South Wales should be decriminalised, but regulated.  There is consistent evidence that decriminalisation doesn’t encourage drug use or increase drug taking in the community. In fact, decriminalisation may have the opposite effect, as more people are able to access advice, support and treatment for any problematic health issue resulting from drug use.

Today, the Inquiry released a copy of their interim report, which can be found here. 

NSWCCL supports the immediate implementation of both recommendations made in the interim report. Further, we urge the Minns government to seriously consider not only the recommendations, but the evidence and the findings of the inquiry that supports the decriminalisation of cannabis and the overall move towards viewing drug use as a health issue as opposed to a criminal justice issue. 

 

Comments attributable to Lydia Shelly, Vice President of NSW Council for Civil Liberties  

 

The evidence is unequivocal. The criminalisation of cannabis does not prevent people from using drugs. Instead, what it does is stigmatise people against getting help and places them unnecessarily in contact with the police and criminal justice system.” 

 

“The criminal law jurisdiction is ill-suited to deal with people suffering from drug addiction. We know that marginalised communities; including First Nations people in NSW, are over-policed and over-represented in the criminal justice system in relation to cannabis.

 

“The Premier must develop and implement drug reform policies based on the available evidence that is supported by those working in the drug law reform space, the health profession and the vast majority of the Australian public. 

 

“The recommendations in the interim report are a bare minimum step that the Minns government should take in response to cannabis use. The war on drugs has failed and it’s high time to try a new approach.”