The final report on the impact of the regulatory framework for cannabis in the Australian state of New South Wales was released last week.

In March 2024, an inquiry was established to delve into and report on the matter by a committee chaired by the Legalise Cannabis Party’s Jeremy Buckingham. Its first report was published in October last year, which was released after three public hearings and a site visit.

The committee made a number of findings and recommendations in that report, urging the State Government to consider a range of reforms as part of its Drug Summit. Among those was reducing penalties for possession of cannabis, restricting police search powers for small quantities, and implementing new and reforming existing schemes to create a presumption of diversion for low level cannabis offending.

However, so far there has been no Government response to the Drug Summit.

While the findings of the committee in its first report stand, it has built on this with a final report looking into evidence concerning use and driving, public health issues, federal regulations and organised crime.

Among the issues of concern:

• Importers of cannabis facing less regulatory burden than local producers.
• The continued criminalisation of people who drive unimpaired with cannabis in their system, particularly medicinal cannabis patients.

On a related note, New South Wales Greens MLC Cate Faehrmann, also a member of the Inquiry committee, recently introduced the Road Transport Amendment (Medicinal Cannabis-Exemptions from Offences) Bill 2025 to NSW parliament. This seeks to exclude medical cannabis patients from application of driving related offences where a legally prescribed illicit drug is present in a person’s oral fluid, blood or urine.

But back to the report, the first steps the Committee wants to see:

• Removing the possibility of gaol time for possession of small quantities of cannabis. Currently a 2-year maximum penalty, the majority of the committee consider this to be draconian.
• Decriminalise the use and possession of cannabis.
• Following assessment and review, the Government should then consider reforms towards a safe, regulated legalised cannabis market.

“New South Wales has a wealth of information from this inquiry, interjurisdictional examples, and extensive research developed over the years on effective models of cannabis regulation,” said Mr. Buckingham in the report. “The majority of committee members are persuaded that the Government should progress staged law reform process towards a legalised, regulated model for cannabis in New South Wales.”

The full final report can be viewed here.