‘Regulate it’: Minns once argued for legalised cannabis in NSW

NSW Premier Chris Minns passionately argued for the legalisation of cannabis while Labor was in opposition, arguing that ending the prohibition of the drug would make it “safer, less potent and less criminal”.

In 2019 Minns, then-shadow transport minister, told a gathering of party members in favour of drug law reform it was “time for Labor to have a big debate that includes a commitment to legalising this drug”.

NSW Premier Chris Minns argued in favour of legalising cannabis while a shadow minister in 2019. He now says he has changed his mind.Credit: Louise Kennerley

In a written copy of the speech circulated by Minns at the time and obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald, the now-premier argued legalisation of cannabis was preferable to decriminalisation, saying the former would allow NSW to regulate the drug.

“While legalisation would make it easier to control, decriminalisation would not allow the state to regulate and control its manufacturing or distribution,” he said.

Upper House MP Jeremy Buckingham, who wants to legalise cannabis in NSW.Credit: Brook Mitchell

“This means we would be left with the illegal market, the criminal control of the substance and with the dangerous toxicity levels associated with manipulation of THC levels.

“The bottom line is that we can’t make it go away, but we can make it safer, less potent and less criminal. Without rewarding bikies, and organised crime groups that feed off the black market nature of the drug.”

Cannabis legalisation is likely to become a key issue in the new term of parliament following the election of the Legalise Cannabis Party’s Jeremy Buckingham to the state’s upper house.

With the upper house count to be confirmed on Wednesday, Buckingham, a former NSW Greens MP, has almost certainly garnered enough of the vote to join the powerful upper house crossbench.

Buckingham told the Herald that a bill to legalise the cannabis industry in NSW would be one of two immediate priorities for the party, along with reforms to drug driver laws to ensure people with legal prescriptions for medicinal cannabis aren’t discriminated against.

“What we’re keen to do through the parliament and through the committee process is to investigate the realities of the existing cannabis industry,” he said.

“There’s this failure by politicians to recognise that there is already a massive recreational cannabis industry in NSW and Australia worth billions that is unregulated and undiminished by laws around prohibition.

“We need to come to understand what the industry looks like and what the benefits could be if we were to bring it out of the shadows and into the light in terms of regulation.”

Minns’ comments in 2019 come despite ruling out decriminalisation during a debate in the lead-up to the state election last month.

In a statement on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the premier said his comments in 2019 were made “well before prescriptions for medicinal cannabis were as widely available as they are today”.

‘I’ve got no problem saying [cannabis] is bad for your health. However, there are many things bad for your health the state doesn’t ban.’

Chris Minns in 2019 on the topic of legalising cannabis

The spokesperson pointed out that in 2018 fewer than 3000 prescriptions for medicinal cannabis were distributed, compared to 120,000 in 2022.

“In light of that, the views of the premier have changed,” the spokesperson said. “There is no proposal to introduce new laws.”

But while his speech did criticise the then-regulation of medicinal marijuana in NSW, Minns argued in favour of a broader legalisation of the drug for recreational use.

He said that prohibition had “incentivised” harmful manipulation of cannabis and that legalising it would allow the state to both regulate its content and reap the economic benefits of its sale.

Ash Richardson vapes medically legal cannabis, to combat the effects of her PTSD and insomnia.Credit: Janie Barrett

“It’s not good for you, you probably shouldn’t do it. I’ve got no problem saying to the community that it is risky and bad for your health. However, there are many things that are bad for your health that the state does not ban,” he said at the time.

“The truth is, perhaps counter-intuitively, that the prohibition of the drug has led to its more damaging manipulation.

“Prohibition means that illegal actors must make the drug stronger and more potent in order to have more product in a smaller space which, in turn, equals more profit for the dealer who is taking the risk.

“If we were to legalise it, regulate it and control it, minimum controls could be placed on the sale of the drug to the marketplace – we can therefore restrict the level of THC manipulation and insist a certain percentage of CBD be included within the chemicals contained within the drug.”

Rose Jackson, the new NSW housing minister and a key ally of Premier Chris Minns, is a long-time supporter of legalising cannabis.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

THC is a reference to tetrahydrocannabinol, the substance primarily responsible for the intoxicating effect of marijuana. CBD is another chemical compound unique to cannabis, but is not intoxicating.

Minns gave the speech to during an event for NSW Labor for Drug Law Reform at Parliament House in Sydney. Two senior members of Labor’s new ministry - Transport Minister Jo Haylen and Housing Minister Rose Jackson - were both patrons of the group during the last parliament.

Jackson in particular has long been a vocal advocate for legalising the drug. In her maiden speech to parliament she said, “you cannot believe alcohol and cigarettes should be legal and not marijuana”.

“There is no evidence to suggest it is more dangerous or addictive than those other substances,” she said during the speech in 2019.

“We should listen to the evidence that is overwhelming and legalise marijuana in NSW.”

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