❓ Opposition Leader questions the government's lack of progress on synthetic cannabis legislation. The Minister for Police defends the government's actions, citing bans, seizures, and ongoing efforts to address the issue.
AnsweredQoN 444Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
SYNTHETIC CANNABIS — LEGISLATION
444. Mr M. McGOWAN to the Minister for
Police:
I refer to the fresh claims that
synthetic cannabis is easily obtainable in our suburbs and that not enough is
being done by this government to stop these drugs, which is an issue I brought
to the minister's attention two years ago. Why has legislation to deal
with this issue not been a priority over the past two years?
444. Mr M. McGOWAN to the Minister for
Police:
I refer to the fresh claims that
synthetic cannabis is easily obtainable in our suburbs and that not enough is
being done by this government to stop these drugs, which is an issue I brought
to the minister's attention two years ago. Why has legislation to deal
with this issue not been a priority over the past two years?
AnswerView source ↗
Contrary to the claims of the Leader
of the Opposition, police have not been sitting on their hands in this space
and neither has the government. Synthetic cannabinoids are a huge problem in
our community. This government has a very strong record for being on the front
foot in combatting this issue in the community. We were the first state to ban
these substances under the Poisons Act to enable police to prosecute people for
illegally selling these products to vulnerable people in the community who are
trying to source them. So far we have banned 22 of these chemicals. As a
result, other states are now also banning these chemicals. The difficulty that
we have with banning synthetic cannabinoids is that we are banning the chemical
formula and the formulas change from time to time, and the people who peddle
these awful products in our community are very adept at keeping pace with the
efforts of government to continue to ban these substances. A further 33
substances have been identified and the Minister for Health has been working
very diligently and effectively to get them onto the banned substances list,
and I believe that that may have been signed off very recently. In addition,
the Minister for Mental Health is developing legislation to work on a way to
effectively ban these substances as a family of substances so that we can be
more effective in this space. This is also an issue of concern to others—
Mr
M. McGowan interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Order, members! I call the Leader of the Opposition for the first
time, the Minister for Health for the second time and the Premier for the first
time. I want to hear the answer in silence and can the minister please wrap it
up?
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : In addition, police have been running targeted operations, one
of which was successfully completed at the end of last year and resulted in the
identification of further substances that have been banned under the Poisons
Act. As a result of that operation, police seized over 57 kilograms of
synthetic cannabinoids and psychoactive substances.
Mrs
M.H. Roberts interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Midland, I call you to order for the first time, and
member for Warnbro for the first time. I want this answer wound up, minister.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : They seized $200 000 worth of cash as part of that operation
and confiscated around $800 000 worth of assets.
Point of Order
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS : Mr Speaker, I
believe you asked the minister to wind this up. She is now no longer answering
the Leader of the Opposition's question.
The SPEAKER : Thank you member.
Can the minister wind it up please?
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : I am doing my best amongst the interjections. The legislation
is in train and we are working on it. It is difficult legislation to construct.
In addition, we are bringing this issue to the agenda of the national policing
forum, which I hope to be attending in the very near future in Melbourne.
of the Opposition, police have not been sitting on their hands in this space
and neither has the government. Synthetic cannabinoids are a huge problem in
our community. This government has a very strong record for being on the front
foot in combatting this issue in the community. We were the first state to ban
these substances under the Poisons Act to enable police to prosecute people for
illegally selling these products to vulnerable people in the community who are
trying to source them. So far we have banned 22 of these chemicals. As a
result, other states are now also banning these chemicals. The difficulty that
we have with banning synthetic cannabinoids is that we are banning the chemical
formula and the formulas change from time to time, and the people who peddle
these awful products in our community are very adept at keeping pace with the
efforts of government to continue to ban these substances. A further 33
substances have been identified and the Minister for Health has been working
very diligently and effectively to get them onto the banned substances list,
and I believe that that may have been signed off very recently. In addition,
the Minister for Mental Health is developing legislation to work on a way to
effectively ban these substances as a family of substances so that we can be
more effective in this space. This is also an issue of concern to others—
Mr
M. McGowan interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Order, members! I call the Leader of the Opposition for the first
time, the Minister for Health for the second time and the Premier for the first
time. I want to hear the answer in silence and can the minister please wrap it
up?
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : In addition, police have been running targeted operations, one
of which was successfully completed at the end of last year and resulted in the
identification of further substances that have been banned under the Poisons
Act. As a result of that operation, police seized over 57 kilograms of
synthetic cannabinoids and psychoactive substances.
Mrs
M.H. Roberts interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Midland, I call you to order for the first time, and
member for Warnbro for the first time. I want this answer wound up, minister.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : They seized $200 000 worth of cash as part of that operation
and confiscated around $800 000 worth of assets.
Point of Order
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS : Mr Speaker, I
believe you asked the minister to wind this up. She is now no longer answering
the Leader of the Opposition's question.
The SPEAKER : Thank you member.
Can the minister wind it up please?
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : I am doing my best amongst the interjections. The legislation
is in train and we are working on it. It is difficult legislation to construct.
In addition, we are bringing this issue to the agenda of the national policing
forum, which I hope to be attending in the very near future in Melbourne.
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