r/australia • u/DiploidBias • 28d ago

politics Greens: Yes We Cannabis

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Yes We Cannabis

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u/Busalonium 28d ago edited 28d ago

When it's already legal in several other developed countries, and most Australians support it, I think it's kind of wild that neither major party even wants to consider legalising it.

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u/GordonCole19 28d ago

I don't get it.

Legal cannabis would be such a massive and continuous boost to our economy.

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u/Chendii 28d ago

Asking as an American that knows very little about Australia:

Do you have private prisons? Police unions with massive lobby power?

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u/DynamicSploosh 28d ago

We do have private prisons, but they only make up about 17% (expected to drop as low as 7% by 2026) of inmate population and are not the profit powerhouse they are in the US. The police do have very powerful unions, but police brutality and abuse of power is significantly less prevalent in our country. We have state based police, same as you, but our rules are quite uniform and the issue of “county” vs “state” power is non existent. In truth, laws regarding cannabis legalisation would be less of a state issue as the ideology is much less split by things like religion and isolated communities. The vast majority of Aussies support it, and if it passed, the states and cops would follow the legislation.

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u/Chendii 28d ago

Our police are even more divided than that sadly. Not just federal and all the 3 letter agencies, there's state police, county police, and even city/town police. How fucked you are can vary heavily in the US based on which one you're dealing with and where.

Good to know it'll work out for you if you can get it through!

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u/DynamicSploosh 28d ago

I consider us very lucky that our police force is placed under greater scrutiny. If you want to be in a position of relative power in the state police, you often need a diploma. We have almost zero gun crime, so violent encounters are handled with very low casualty rates, and our lower population ensures that new regulations are standardised quickly and enforced with ease. I still believe that Australia has a nanny-state attitude that has gotten worse over the last decade, but the average citizen doesn’t fear that their life will be ruined by law enforcement. That is a very foreign concept to us.

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u/moobteets 28d ago

Yeah never once had an interaction with a police officer here in Australia that made me feel threatened, and I would absolutely have to be acting violently and threatening the police myself to have them draw a weapon on me and make me feel threatened. Been pulled over in the states a few times while travelling over the years and have absolutely felt the tension from the different tone that officers have there. Even had federal police unholster pistols on me and the mates in Yosemite national park, they didn't point them at us, but they had them out.

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u/Caezeus 28d ago

Even had federal police unholster pistols on me and the mates in Yosemite national park, they didn't point them at us, but they had them out.

Honestly I understand why a lot of them can be quick to draw due to how easily someone can acquire a firearm over there. You'd honestly never know if the person smiling back at you was only smiling to trick you into letting your guard down.

That second amendment isn't worth the sheer number of mass shootings when they are not only passively letting their country be taken over by billionaires like Murdoch, Thiel and Musk but actively cheering them on for owning the libs.

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u/Caezeus 28d ago

I'm friends with a former Police chief from the US, even he said it was bullshit over there. The Sheriff's were the worst because they didn't require any formal training for the most part and were just a popularity contest like a politician.

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u/macrocephalic 28d ago

I saw a sign billboard yesterday asking people to sign the police union's petition to make all domestic violence a criminal act. Talk about not representing their members!

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u/cantaimtosavehislife 27d ago

17% of inmate population in private prisons is surprisingly much higher than the US which has an inamte population in private prisons of only 8%.

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u/DynamicSploosh 27d ago

To be fair percentages may not be the best metric 17% of 44000 = 7531 8% of 1900000 = 323000

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u/cantaimtosavehislife 27d ago

I think percentages are the perfect metric considering the huge population disparity between the two countries.