Addiction (1997) 92 (9), 1109±1115 SECTION II: GOVERNMENTAL RESPONSES TO DRUG USE The recent Australian debate about the prohibition on cannabis use WAYNE HALL National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, New South Wales, Australia Abstract This paper outlines the ethical arguments used in the Australian debate about whether or not to relax the prohibition on cannabis use by adults. Over the past two decades a rising prevalence of cannabis use in the Australian population has led to proposals for the decriminalization of the personal use of cannabis. Three states and territories have removed criminal penalties for personal use while criminal penalties are rarely imposed in the remaining states. Libertarian arguments for legalization of cannabis use have attracted a great deal of media interest but very little public and political support. Other arguments in favour of decriminaliza- tion have attracted more support. One has been the utilitarian argument that prohibition has failed to deter cannabis use and the social costs of its continuation outweigh any bene®ts that it produces. Another has been the argument from hypocrisy that cannabis is less harmful than alcohol and so, on the grounds of consistency, if alcohol is legally available then so should cannabis. To date public opinion has not favoured legalization, although support for the decriminalization of personal cannabis use has increased. In the long term, the outcome of the debate may depend more upon trends in cannabis use and social attitudes among young adults than upon the persuasiveness of the arguments for a relaxation of the prohibition of cannabis. Introduction Cannabis possession, use, cultivation and sale is prohibited in Australia, as it is in all countries that are signatories to the 1961 Single Conven- tion on Narcotic Drugs. This prohibition is justi®ed on the grounds that cannabis use pre- sents a serious danger to the health and psycho- logical wellbeing of users, and a threat to the wellbeing of the community, especially when used by young people. 1,2 It is a criminal offence to use, possess, cultivate or sell cannabis in most Australian states. Transgressions of the law can lead to imprisonment, although the penalties have been reduced in fact in most states, and by statute in three states and territories (the Aus- tralian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, and South Australia), to a ®ne rather than imprisonment. 3 Despite the prohibition on its use, cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in Australia, as it is in other comparable English-speaking coun- tries, such as Canada, New Zealand and the United States. 4 The proportion of young adults aged between 20 and 29 years who had ever used it increased from 22% in 1973 to 65% in 1993. 4 In Australia in 1993, a third of adults had used cannabis at some time, and 10% had used it in the past week. 4 One consequence of this wide- spread contravention of the law is that the use, possession and cultivation of cannabis for per- Correspondence to: Wayne Hall, Executive Director, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, PO Box 1, Kensington, NSW 2033, Australia. Tel: 1 61 2 9398 9333; Fax: 1 61 2 9399 7143. 0965±2140/97/091109±06 $9.50 ÓSociety for the Study of Addiction to Alcohol and Other Drugs Carfax Publishing Limited