Dr. Walker questions the Minister for Education regarding a potential link between cannabis legalisation and increased university applications, referencing a US study. The Minister declines to investigate the link as a recruitment strategy.

AnsweredQoN 38Legislative Council
Asked
28 February 2024
Portfolio
Education

QuestionView source ↗

CANNABIS —
UNIVERSITY ADMISSIONS
38. Hon Dr BRIAN WALKER to the Leader of the House
representing the Minister for Education:
I refer the minister to a recent
study published in the January edition of the peer-reviewed journal Contemporary
Economic Policy , which found that states in the United States that had legalised
recreational cannabis had seen a 5.5 per cent increase in public college and
university applications compared with states that had not yet legalised
cannabis, alongside a noticeably higher standard of applications.
(1) What
increase, if any, in university applications have we seen in WA since the
pandemic, and what projected figures, if any, do we have going forward?
(2) Will the
minister urge his department to consider this latest research, which could
yield important insights into university
admissions, especially in terms of WA's attractiveness to interstate
and international applicants?
(3) If no to (2), why not?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. The following response, which I provide on behalf
of the Leader of the House, has been provided by the Minister for Education.
(1) It is not
possible to answer this question in the time available and I therefore ask the
honourable member to place this question on notice.
(2) No.
(3) Although not familiar with the study to which the
honourable member referred, I do not consider legalising the
recreational use of cannabis to be a valid university student recruitment
strategy.

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