By Melissa Davey, The Guardian on December 8, 2022

Australia is not keeping pace with global best practice cannabis policy, a report from the public health research organisation the Penington Institute has found, with decriminalisation predicted to save taxpayers around $850m each year.

With more than 90% cannabis-related charges since 2010 being for personal use or possession offences, the Cannabis in Australia 2022 report, published on Thursday, found that criminalising people who use cannabis costs Australian taxpayers $1.7bn a year in law enforcement costs.

According to the report, 702,866 people have been arrested for cannabis-related offending in Australia since 2010, with nine out of 10 of these arrests for personal use or possession.

– Read the entire article at The Guardian.