Cannabis was high on Australia’s regulatory agenda in September, with two significant developments. In our last post we discussed the tabling of Professor John McMillan AO’s Final Report in Parliament on 5 September 2019, which recommended extensive amendments to the regime for cultivation, production and manufacture of medicinal cannabis in Australia. In this post we discuss the move to legalise the personal possession and use of small amounts of cannabis in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). On 25 September 2019, the ACT Legislative Assembly voted to legalise the personal possession and cultivation of cannabis under the Drugs of Dependence (Personal Cannabis Use) Amendment Bill 2018 (ACT) (Bill). The changes will allow adults to possess up to 50 grams of dry cannabis (or 150 grams of fresh or ‘wet’ cannabis) per person, grow two plants per person, and grow up to four plants at any one household. The amendments have been approved in principle and will come into effect on 31 January…

Executive summary Professor John McMillan AO’s Final Report of the review of Australia’s medicinal cannabis framework under the Narcotic Drugs Act 1967 (Cth) (ND Act) was tabled in Parliament on 5 September 2019, ahead of the 29 October 2019 target date. A link to the Final Report is here. The review was conducted on the extensive amendments made to the ND Act in 2016, which established a regime for the cultivation, production and manufacture of medicinal cannabis in Australia. The Final Report contains 26 recommendations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the regulatory regime including: a new single licensing regime for the cultivation, production and manufacture of medicinal cannabis to minimise the regulatory burden on the industry (recommending extensive amendments to the ND Act and the Narcotic Drugs Regulation 2016 (Cth) (ND Regulations)); removing constraints on the permitted uses of medicinal cannabis products;movement away from the Office of Drug Control’s (ODC’s) focus on risk minimisation to develop a more commercial…