Health Select Committee report on cannabis use August 2003
Inquiry into the public health strategies relating to cannabis use and the most appropriate legal status and five related petitions (1999/37, 1999/114, 1999/122, 1999/157, and 1999/173) (I.6C) (8 August 2003)
The Health Committee of the 46th Parliament established the following terms of reference for its inquiry:
To inquire into the most effective public health and health promotion strategies to minimise the use of and harm associated with cannabis and consequently the most appropriate legal status of cannabis.
We have considered the public health impact of cannabis use, and made several recommendations about the most appropriate public health strategies to deal with this issue. We agree that the aim of cannabis legislation needs to be focused on preventing young people from using cannabis, and protecting them from the harms associated with use of this controlled drug. However, we have not been able to agree on the most appropriate legal status for cannabis, and have made our separate recommendations regarding the best legislative options in the relevant sections of the text. Some of us think that the Justice and Electoral Committee should further consider the issue of the most appropriate legal status for cannabis.
