SUBSTANCES — LEGALITY
1167. Hon SOPHIA MOERMOND to the Leader of the House
representing the Premier:
My question concerns this government's
policy on cannabis. I refer to the Western Australian government and the Western Australia Police Force's handbook
titled Cannabis laws in Western Australia. The opening paragraph reads —
Because
cannabis is harmful, it is against the law for people in Western Australia to
cultivate, possess, use, sell or supply cannabis, or to possess pipes and other
smoking implements containing detectable traces of cannabis.
The
consensus from this government is that if it is harmful, therefore, it should
be illegal—one follows the other, it seems.
(1) Will this
government make alcohol illegal—after all, it is very harmful, more
harmful than any other drug in society?
(2) Will this
government make sugar-based soft drinks illegal? I am sure we are all aware of
the harm they do and the amount of harm diabetes does in society.
(3) Will this
government make all prescription opioid drugs illegal, as they kill more people
than people who die on our roads every year?
Hon SUE
ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. It is not in my file but I know the answer. If the
member wants to ask a question about the text in a Western Australia Police
Force publication, she needs to direct that question to the Minister for
Police.
(1)–(3) There are no plans
that I am aware of to make any of those substances illegal.