James O’Doherty: Chris Minns’ about-turn on decriminalising marijuana

He may have argued five years ago that cannabis should be legalised, but today Premier Chris Minns is adamant it will not happen in NSW before voters have their say, writes James O’Doherty.

On the very first day of a parliamentary inquiry into our state’s cannabis laws, committee members quickly discovered that not much was going to change.

Ahead of the inquiry in August, Premier Chris Minns declared that he was not going to decriminalise cannabis.

“We’re not going to break an election commitment,” he said.

Minns’ firm position on drug reform today is a far cry from his stance before the election, when he argued for cannabis to be legalised. Those comments came in November 2019, in a speech to a Labor activist group in favour of drug reform.

I can now reveal that Minns made the comments as a “patron” of “Labor for Drug Law Reform” – essentially, someone in parliament actively pushing the group’s agenda.

Fast-forward five years, and Minns has completely reversed his position.

“The circumstances around access to cannabis have radically changed since I became interested in the issue,” he says, pointing to “hundreds of thousands of people” who now have access to medicinal cannabis.

Premier Chris Minns argued in favour of cannabis legalisation when in opposition. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

Minns’s evident change of heart is no accident.

As party leader and now Premier, Minns has doggedly moved to shift Labor to the centre, to win over and hold the support of conservative voters.

While he promised a drug summit to appease Labor’s left flank before the election, Minns has since tried his hardest to downplay the event.

The long-awaited summit with 450 guests will be held largely behind closed doors, with a “communique” to be released after the event.

The expensive exercise is effectively a Clayton’s Summit – the summit you have when you don’t want to have a summit.

Advocates for drug reform, including decriminalisation and legalisation, are not happy.

Legalise cannabis MLC Jeremy Buckingham. Picture: Dylan Coker

One Labor MP who will be at the summit has “no idea” who is going, or what is on the agenda.

“Key stakeholders haven’t been invited,” they say.

The MP is among a number, mainly from the left, that are becoming increasingly annoyed with Minns’ position.

“Clearly the position before the election was that we would look at (cannabis) decriminalisation, but the position after the election has changed,” they say.

Another says that while they find Minns’ approach “frustrating”, it is “understandable”.

“In cost-of-living crisis land, people don’t want politicians focusing on non-core issues,” they tell me.

Those who advocate for decriminalisation cannot complain too much – in fact, the Minns government last year legislated a scheme allowing people caught with small amounts of drugs to escape criminal sanctions, at police discretion.

Under the “Early Drug Diversion Initiative” first proposed by the Coalition, police can issue someone caught with small amounts of illicit substances up to two fines, which are waived if the user attends phone counselling.

Between March and August, 436 people were diverted into the fines and counselling scheme, while 6332 people faced criminal charges for low-level drug possession.

Again, the Premier has done little to advertise this fact. He would prefer no one talk about it at all.

Minns will be forced to eventually address the cannabis inquiry’s recommendations, which were tabled to parliament on Thursday.

The upper house committee, led by Legalise Cannabis MP Jeremy Buckingham, has made a number of suggestions to reduce punishment for cannabis offences.

The committee — which included three government MPs — even recommended that the government trial “administrative non-enforcement” zones in certain geographical areas (think Nimbin).

It also has called for the government to change laws that mean that someone with a medicinal marijuana prescription can fail a roadside drug test even when they are not impaired, days after using the product.

That is one area where the Premier is likely to take action – after the drug summit is over.

As for decriminalisation, Minns on Thursday reiterated it is not something he is “going to pursue”.

He has promised not to make any changes without seeking a mandate from voters.

A cannabis law reform march and gathering in Nimbin in 2018 — the area’s 26th consecutive Nimbin Mardi Grass parade.

“I can’t introduce a policy of that magnitude without asking for voter support,” he said on Thursday.

While Minns has taken a politically sensible route on drug policy, the risk he faces is an internal one.

While he has done well to maintain party unity so far, some troops on the left are becoming increasingly restless.

But those MPs pushing Labor to the left should remember that the first step to making any large-scale reforms is staying in power. To do that, they need to win the centre.

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