Wednesday, 2 April 2025

Cannabis law reform

Rachel PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:19): (1562) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Police, and the action I seek is for the better use of police resources. I recently obtained data from the Crime Statistics Agency on the number of people forced into contact with the criminal justice system because they possessed a small quantity of cannabis. From 2020 to 2024 on average 7805 Victorians had contact with the criminal justice system, and of those 3812 were arrested. While this data showed a promising downward trend, it was alarming to see that in 2024 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 12 per cent of arrests despite making up roughly 1 per cent of the Victorian population.

There are many people that seem to still be under the illusion that people do not get arrested for cannabis. Well, this data shows that it is just not true. While it may be true that many politicians in this place who have consumed cannabis do not have interactions with the justice system, some are not as lucky. Our most vulnerable and marginalised communities are the worst affected by these bad laws. The harm from coming into contact with justice system is well documented. It is a great way to turn someone smoking a joint the sun to relax into a hardened criminal.

The continued criminalisation of cannabis wastes copious amounts of police resources on what is a non-violent offence. At a time when some members of the public are deeply concerned about public safety and there are such alarming rates of domestic violence we must ask ourselves: is locking at people for possessing small quantities of cannabis an effective use of police resources? To me, the answer is clear. Victorians should not be locked up for possession of small quantities of cannabis. So I ask the minister: will you commit to directing police resources away from charging people for personal possession of cannabis and instead into addressing serious violent crime?