Activists have launched a huge campaign to decriminalise drivers with THC found in their system in New South Wales.
While the effectiveness of drug policy in the country has been a long, heated debate for quite some time, demonstrators are now campaigning for the rights of drivers who have a prescription for medicinal cannabis.
Who Are We Hurting? is an organisation advocating to change how drugs are policed in NSW.
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According to the organisation, it’s time Australia has a more compassionate and evidence-based approach to drugs, primarily for THC.
They have commandeered a fleet of military vehicles to deliver facts about drug policy directly to news outlets in Sydney.
Their protest today, which was conveniently timed for April 20 (aka 420, the international day of weed), was also designed to highlight how Australia's 'war on drugs has failed'.
Their last stunt saw cannabis imagery projected onto the Sydney Opera House, which left members of the group Alec ‘Craze’ Zammitt and Will Stolk arrested, who are now currently on bail.
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But it was well worth it, according to the activists.
"We want to publicise the discussion around cannabis in Australia and ask the government, who would be hurt by an amnesty?" Will Stolk said in a press release.
"We also want to educate the Australian taxpayer on the benefits fully legalising cannabis in Australia.
"There is a huge amount of money that will flow into the coffers of the Australian government, for use in healthcare, schools, and roads, from the tax excise that will be taken from legalised cannabis.”
At the moment, someone with a medicinal cannabis prescription could be charged with drug driving if they were picked up by the cops.
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Dr Thomas Arkell, psychopharmacologist with a broad research interest in drugs and their effects on the brain and human behaviour, conducted a study on THC published in the National Library of Medicine and found that the drug doesn’t affect one’s ability to drive.
He said: “These findings indicate for the first time that CBD, when given without THC, does not affect a subject’s ability to drive. That’s great news for those using or considering treatment using CBD-based products.”
While Australia’s drug policy reform might seem a little behind compared to other countries (**cough cough Canada, Mexico and South Africa**), the Legalise Cannabis NSW party has just elected Jeremy Buckingham as its first member to Parliament.
Mr Buckingham plans to bring these issues to the forefront.
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"I am honoured to have been elected as the first MP for the Legalise Cannabis NSW party," he said via a statement.
"I am committed to advancing the cause of drug law reform and working towards a more just and equitable society. I look forward to working with my colleagues in parliament and with the broader community to make this vision a reality."
Charisa Bossinakis