Its use is increasing and the age of first use is decreasing. The total number of recent users of cannabis in Australia amounts to about 2.7 million people. The acceptability of the use of cannabis in Australia is increasing. Support for legalisation of cannabis has marginally increased and support for increased penalties has declined. The majority of the ACT population believe cannabis should be legal.
Law enforcement is an ineffective method of controlling cannabis use.
So much so that it could be considered irresponsible of any government to divert more resources to law enforcement strategies. A responsible government needs to seriously consider other options that are outlined in this submission. If education is to be considered as a method of reducing cannabis use then governments must increase resources for research into education strategies that demonstrate reduced drug use. Cannabis policies throughout Australia have been developed following the total prohibition model and in the case of South Australia, ACT and Northern Territory have subsequently been modified to reflect models that do less harm. In this partial review of the ACT SCON policy Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform urges the Committee to adopt the following objective goals against which any proposed changes to the ACT's SCON system could be measured.