More than a hundred peaceful picnickers gathered on the green grass of Melbourne’s Flagstaff Gardens support of the legalisation of cannabis on Sunday.
This year, the annual 20 April global celebration of cannabis (known as “420”), landed during a federal campaign in which independents and minor parties are expected to play a defining role.
The Legalise Cannabis party’s lead senate candidate for Victoria, Fiona Patten, said the focus of the Sunday event was “celebrating cannabis” and calling for a change to laws that criminalise the use and possession of marijuana for recreational purposes.
It was mostly a relaxed affair. Attendees reclined on blankets beneath a large Moreton Bay fig, as campaigners for the Legalise Cannabis party and the Libertarian party handed out pamphlets and how-to-vote cards. A juggler flipped fluorescent orange clubs into the air, while 50 or so police – and their sniffer dogs – watched from the sidelines.
Patten, who previously represented the Reason party and the Australian Sex party in the Victorian parliament, had not planned to run for federal politics, but she had “unfinished business”, she said, especially in relation to drug law reform.
Legalise Cannabis Australia performed strongly at the 2022 federal election, gaining between 2% and 7% of the Senate vote in most states and the Northern Territory, on a platform that seeks to decriminalise and regulate personal use, and see cannabis treated similarly to alcohol and tobacco.
If elected in 2025, Patton hopes to achieve two key actions.
One is a “root-and-branch review” of the medicinal cannabis program and regulations in Australia, addressing the barriers to patients, farmers and manufacturers.
The second is to amend the federal Crimes Act, enabling states and territories to legalise and regulate cannabis without the risk of being overruled by the commonwealth.
“Prime minister Albanese says cannabis regulation is a matter for the states – we have to amend the federal act to enable that to happen,” Patten said.
By running for the Legalise Cannabis party, she also hopes to block candidates such as Ralph Babet, the United Australia party candidate who claimed the sixth Victorian senate seat at the last election.
“I feel really determined to stop that from happening,” she said. “My race is not with the Greens. It’s not with the Labor party. My race is with One Nation and the Trumpet of Patriots.”
In Australia, the use of marijuana for medicinal and scientific purposes has been legal since 2016, whereas recreational use remains largely illegal across much of the country, except for the Australian Capital Territory.
Despite its status, cannabis was the most widely used illicit drug in Australia, used by 11.5% of people, according to the latest data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
“The fact that 2.4 million of us are using cannabis, yet its prohibited, shows that its a bad law, that discriminates against people and stigmatises people,” Patten said.
More than 80% of Australians aged over 14 did not think possessing cannabis should be a criminal offence, a national survey of more than 21,000 people held in 2022-23 found.
A University of Sydney study, published in the journal Addiction, found rates of cannabis poisoning increased after legalisation in other countries, with risks to children associated with edibles highlighted as a particular concern.
But Patten said legalisation would enable both regulation and education: “One of the main reasons for regulating and legalising a product that is so popular is that you can reduce harm that may be associated with it.”
Many in attendance on Sunday, like Shane Macarthur from Traralgon and Jacob Trounce of Geelong, had travelled long distances to show their support for those fighting to change laws that criminalised recreational use.
Most questioned the visible presence of police. Sharon Tavener, from Frankston, said she thought the police were intimidating and unnecessary, when what people wanted was the ability to come together peacefully, have a joint and enjoy each other’s company.
