Cannabis Legalisation is QLD's Most Signed Petition in Past Year

After running for 6 months, the "Legalising cannabis" petition, hosted on the Queensland parliament's website, came to a close on April 14. The e-petition, was started by Elly Kirkham and sponsored by Michael Berkman, the Greens MP for Maiwar in inner-Brisbane. 14,736 backed the petition, making it the most popular petition in the past year. Beating out others such as saying no to the 2032 Olympic bid (5032) and stopping the regulation of blaster toys (11049). Main talking points of the petition included:

• Criminalisation has not prevented or reduced cannabis use
• Cannabis used should be treated as a health issue rather than a criminal one
• Requesting the House to legalise the growth, possession, use and supply of cannabis for adults in Queensland, and
• Provide amnesty for people with current cannabis-related convictions and increase funding for drug support services

Given the current state of the economic and political environment with Covid-19 wreaking havoc locally and globally, it's unfortunate, but likely the House will not act. What happens next? From the QLD Parliament's website:

The Minister shall forward a response to a petition to the Clerk within 30 days. The Clerk: (a) tables the response (b) forwards a copy of the response to the Member of Parliament who presented the petition (c) forwards a copy of the response to the principal petitioner (d) ensures the response is published on the Parliament’s Internet website.

You can see all the current QLD petitions here.